Night Vision
by abrynne
Summary: Bruce had just broken through. People were carrying hope around with them as they walked the streets. They looked to the light now, rather than willingly walk further into the darkness. But a person's fear is not so easily forgotten. Post Batman Begins.
1. Chapter 1 Snatched

Night Vision

Chapter 1 – Snatched

Evening - a normal every day evening. The clock had chimed eight a few moments earlier. She always counted. A basket of clean laundry sat on her bed and she held a cotton blouse in her hands. The fabric softener smell was fresh in the air combined with a floral candle she'd just lit in her living room. The light of it wasn't what she enjoyed, it was the scent. Always the scent, the touch, the sound of things she enjoyed most of all.  
Anna was blind. She had grown up blind and like any learning human being, had adapted to that life. It was the only life she'd ever known.

She folded the blouse but clutched it to her. A loud, sharp thudding came from very near by. Anna guessed it was inside her apartment. But she lived alone. She quickly groped down the laundry basket to her mattress and felt around. She knew she'd brought it back in with her – her cane rested on the other side of the bed. Her fingers touched the smooth wood and she held the handle firmly, standing completely still, her ears sharpened for any hint of sound.

Perhaps it had been her neighbors upstairs after all. Everything happened at once just as she began to relax again. A large hand clamped over her mouth from behind. Another came around her ribs and pulled, dragging her into the adjoining bathroom. Anna couldn't make any noise because of how firmly she was held and only realized where she was again when he pushed her against the shower door, his hand still over her mouth, stifling her yells.  
It had to be a man because of the size she believed his hands were and the brute strength he obviously possessed. He leaned against her and whispered in her ear, breaking the silence, "I don't wanna hurt you. But if you scream I won't have much of a choice." His breath was hot on the side of her face. It definitely was a man. Judging from where he spoke he stood about six feet tall, maybe taller and he hadn't shaved for two to three days. The stubble on his cheek rubbed roughly against the side of her face.

Anna didn't know the voice. But it was hard to tell because he spoke in a harsh whisper. "I'm gonna take away my hand and you're not gonna scream," it wasn't a question.

Anna shook her head jerkily, her eyes wide with fear though they couldn't focus on anything. The man did as he promised and lifted his hand away from her mouth as she tried to steady her breathing.  
"Who are you?" she said, holding her hands protectively in front of her.  
"Tell me what you were doing last night on the street outside of Jake's."  
Her body shuddered and she grew an idea as to why he was there. But she didn't get a chance to answer him.

"Have you done it yet?" a higher male voice from inside her bedroom followed by a clattering and rustling. They were looking for something but Anna couldn't think of what.  
"Just do your job dumb ass and let me worry about what I'm doin'," the man who held her said.

"I was walking home," Anna answered his question.  
"You're letting her talk?" the second one said. "Just cap the bitch and we'll find it."  
Anna's hands shook violently in front of her as the tears welled up in her unseeing eyes, "Please, please, what do you want? I'll tell you whatever you want to know. What are you looking for? Just please don't – " the hand came back over her mouth and the rooms were silent. Everything had gone completely still after Anna's pleading had been stopped short.

"Jordan?" the first man said, still holding his hand over her mouth. The quiet in the room seemed to absorb the sound of his voice as he spoke. Anna had never heard anything like it before.  
A step sounded on the floor and Anna felt him move away from her as he leaned out to see where his cohort had got to and his hand came completely away from her face with a muffled grunt of surprise. She stood in her place on the bathroom floor, listening hard to the scuffling struggle going on in her bedroom just beyond the doorway. The only voice she'd heard was that of the man who'd first attacked her.

Hesitant with every step, Anna moved when the silence came again, palpable and thick as mud. Nothing but the sound of her ragged breathing met her highly tuned ears. Anna's four other senses made up for her lack of sight which helped her create a rather efficient system of knowing her surroundings. But her fear was doing its job of dampening those other senses at the moment. Her hands crept cautiously along the bathroom wall until she came to the doorway. Someone was still there with her but it most definitely was not the same man who'd first come in before. This was someone new. They were completely silent but Anna's instincts screamed that someone was in her bedroom.

Like he was made of shadow itself, he stood as a marble statue in the corner next to her bed without even a hint that he was breathing as he watched her emerge slowly from the bathroom. Her eyes were scared but they wouldn't focus…or perhaps couldn't focus. His eyes darted to the cane that rested on her bed and he understood. But why attack a blind woman? His rock hard expression didn't change as he puzzled over the questions that came to mind.

Anna felt her way over to the bed, stumbling over a large lump that lay in the middle of the floor. She nudged it with her foot. The body rocked just slightly as she pushed it. She closed her eyes in a sickening wince as her hands smacked onto the bedspread in search of her cane, her fingers barely missing it.  
"To your left," he said softly.

Anna didn't follow his direction. She stood upright in response to the darkest voice she had ever heard and faced the general direction it had come from. "Are you here to kill me too?" she said, sounding quite calm. Her brains stopped their scattering as she lined up the more logical thoughts in order of importance. First, "I have to call the police," she said when he didn't answer her.

"These men aren't common criminals. The police won't be able to protect you. I can." His words were meticulously chosen, very precise and to the point, wasting nothing at all. Add that to the deep, growling whisper of his voice and it was all very intimidating which is exactly how he wanted it.  
"How?" she said.  
"I'm sorry," he replied and was suddenly much closer.

A brush of fabric flew quickly across her fingertips and an iron grip wrapped around her middle as something soft was pressed to her face. It was damp and the smell was overwhelming but she breathed it in deeply out of panic. Struggling was useless as her body was pinned tightly and her concentration was fading. The feeling and sounds slowly died away and her body went limp as a sock puppet.

--

The memory woke her with a bone jarring jolt. Her hands shot out and felt around her. Soft sheets and a thick bedspread met her fingertips. She stretched out further. The sheets were on an overlarge bed. Her back was sore as were her arms but she didn't understand how that could have happened. Those discomforts, however, paled in comparison to the groggy headache that pierced her temples, pounding relentlessly in her head. This was not her bed and the air in the room did not smell or feel like her bedroom.  
But there it was again – the sense that she was not alone.

The room was dark but it mattered little to him and it didn't matter at all to her. He could just see her in the little light that shone through the closed drapes over the window. She was moving, gaining an idea of her surroundings but she didn't sit up. Instead she held a pillow to her as her breathing sharpened.  
"Who are you?" her voice shattered the room. The sound traveled far. The room was much larger than her bedroom.

No answer returned to her and the memories of the previous evening came back to her in small flashes of detail until she was able to piece them all together. She'd never believed the rumors but from the descriptions of witnesses and the news reports there seemed to be only one person in the city who could stay as silent as the grave. And then there was that voice. No one sounded like that and no one moved that fast.

"I know you're here," she said firmly as her brain worked on the theory.  
The silence continued until she began to doubt her instincts. A soft whoosh of fabric from a far corner of the room made her go ridged beneath the blankets.

"You will be safe here," there was the voice again. Who else could it be? Who sounded like that and still cared for people's safety?  
"Safe? Who were those men? Where am I?" she moved to sit up, a dull ache shooting up her back but a gloved hand came to the back of her neck, strong and uncompromising, and lowered her head back to the pillow.

"They were after you. That's all you should be worried about now," his voice was firm but not angry. "You are in Wayne Manor. They will not find you here."  
_Wayne Manor?!_ His connections were more impressive than anyone knew.

"Do you know why –"  
"No," he answered flatly.

The feeling left then. There was no sound of movement or a footfall or anything that signaled to Anna that he'd left her but she knew that he'd left her…in Wayne Manor. If she believed him, she was in a bedroom inside the house of one of the richest men in the world. She didn't care who he was. How could he have gotten permission to bring her here? It made no sense at all! Maybe Bruce Wayne owed him a favor or something.  
Fatigue slowed her speculation and she relaxed once more. The bed was the best she'd ever lain on. Her body sank slightly into the mattress as though it was embracing her. Anna's eyes closed finally and the silence captured her.


	2. Chapter 2 Safe

Chapter 2 - Safe

Birds chirped and sang in the fresh air outside. Morning. Anna awoke to the sound of the birds and the distinct footsteps outside the room she was in followed by two low male voices.  
"It's alright with you?" said one man in a pleasant baritone.  
"Of course, sir," an older man with an English accent. "I'll be happy to have some more company during the day."

"You know she's blind," the younger man spoke again.  
"As you have said, sir. She is also a grown, intelligent woman. You should stop being so judgmental if I may say so, sir."  
"Sure, Alfred," the younger man said, sounding amused. "Don't let her leave the grounds. I'll be back tonight."

"Really, Master Bruce?" The man called Alfred sounded surprised.  
But it didn't compare to Anna's pure and undeniable shock. Bruce? Bruce freaking _Wayne?_ Her captor hadn't been lying after all. She wanted to crawl away and hide somewhere – a stranger in the home of Bruce Wayne. What the hell was going on?  
She heard Bruce chuckle, "Yeah. Just a little investigating this time, I promise."

Anna was sitting up in bed wearing the white night gown Alfred had helped her into the evening before though she didn't remember any of it by the time he came in with breakfast on a tray for her.  
"Good morning, Miss," he said pleasantly setting the tray down on the dresser with a slight rattle of cutlery. "My name is Alfred. Anything you need you just come to me." He stood next to the bed, continually reminding himself that she wasn't looking at him out of rudeness but because she didn't need to look at anyone in order to acknowledge their presence. She, of course, had other ways.

"I want to go home, Alfred," she said in a trembling voice.  
Alfred's insides melted in a second as he watched her run her fingers nervously through her boyish hair and continued to look at nothing. "Now my dear I'm afraid our mutual friend would frown on that and then you and I would be in serious trouble." He sat down on the bed and she recoiled from him. But she did smile just slightly at his joke.

"How long do I have to be here?" she said, turning her face towards him for the first time.  
"Until whomever is after you is locked away safe and sound."

Anna didn't reply but was a little more at ease from the sound of Alfred's voice and the fact that Master Bruce wouldn't be there until later that night. She nodded her head in agreement.  
"I have some breakfast for you or if you'd like you can get cleaned up first, I can show you where everything is."

Anna so wanted to go home but it wasn't like she was in prison although it might as well have been. She didn't know anything around her like she was on a different planet even though it was one of the most beautiful homes in the entire country. "I think I'll get cleaned up first. But all of my things are at home." She said helplessly.

"Not to worry my dear. Some of your things from your flat have already been sent here."  
Anna raised her eyebrows, "He is serious isn't he?"  
"Who is, Miss?"  
"The Dark Knight, as I've heard recently."

Alfred relented a smile, "That's how he is normally, I would say. Come on, I'll show you to your bathroom," he touched her elbow gently.  
She found his hand and climbed out of the enormous bed, allowing him to lead her across the room. He placed her hands on everything as he explained their location and what they were. He showed her the dresser she'd be using in her room, the bedside table and the large window if she ever wanted to open it.

Anna ran the silky fabric of the draperies in between her fingers. It was so soft, almost like a liquid, flowing over her hands. "What color is it?" she asked pointedly.  
Alfred blinked, surprised that it mattered to her, "It's a pale green with a white lining."  
Anna smiled, "I was born blind, Alfred. That doesn't mean I can't create my own ideas about things. I have my own idea of what colors are." Alfred marveled at her for a minute as she brushed the fabric against her cheek.

The bathroom connected to the bedroom she had found herself in. Alfred showed her everything she needed and set a towel out for her after making certain she knew the location of everything in the room. The shower started when he left and as he picked up the breakfast tray he stopped to listen. Floating above the sound of the running water was another sound that Alfred had not heard in the Wayne house for many years.  
Anna sang an old love song – one of those songs that seemed to have been around since the creation of the Earth. Her voice was a sweet and rich soprano and soared through the room. Alfred held the tray, standing in the doorway of the bedroom and listened.

--

As predicted by Alfred himself he was more than grateful for her company through that first morning and afternoon. Anna, as she finally demanded he call her after a dozen more "misses", was a delightful young woman, well educated and so curious about everything around her.

They toured the grounds together which took the rest of the morning. Anna took in every texture and sound that came with the property. She identified the rushing waterfall that was close by and insisted on touching every kind of flower they came across as Alfred described them to her as best he could.  
Then, there was the tour of the mansion itself. Alfred was very informative having a well versed history of the house and the Wayne family itself as far back as before the Civil War. Anna listened and spoke very little the entire time. She was an expert listener and could hear the slightest break, or pitch change in a person's voice when they spoke. She walked arm in arm with him as he guided her through the house, describing where they were and what rooms were on which floor.

When it was time for supper to be prepared, Alfred left her in one of the large libraries and managed to find a few books in Braille format to keep her occupied while he couldn't stay with her. Though Anna knew how to read she much preferred being read to aloud by somebody. It made the story much richer. But she already felt a sting of guilt for taking up all of Alfred's time the entire day.

Her fingertips glided over the raised marks on the paper but she was too distracted to concentrate and closed the book. The only sound was the ticking of a large clock somewhere in the room.  
Though she didn't have her cane, Anna couldn't resist the urge to explore on her own for a while. She got to her feet and found a wall of books after knocking her shins on a low coffee table. Her hands ran along the spines of the countless books until she found the doorway of the room. Keeping close to the wall she walked down a hallway – the east corridor if she remembered her tour earlier.

--

Bruce came in the side entrance and lifted his face at the pleasant smell coming through the hallway. He followed it to the kitchen where he found something in the oven but there was no one attending to it. With a furrowed brow and the curious pursing of his lips he left the kitchen and moved into one of the main corridors that led to the entry way of the house and the main staircase.

"Good evening, sir," Alfred had headed him off at a quick walk. He smiled though he looked as though he'd just been for a run.  
"What's going on, Alfred? Are you out of breath?" Bruce said out of mild concern.

Alfred scratched at his ear, appearing unconcerned, "Well, um – I've misplaced our guest, sir. I've been trying to find her but – "  
Bruce resisted a laugh in his throat. "She can't have gotten far," he said looking around as though Anna would suddenly appear right next to him.  
"No," Alfred said, though his eyes darted to one side and the other rather sharply.

Bruce patted him on the shoulder, grinning sarcastically, "I'll look for her."  
Alfred nodded and made his way to the kitchen as Bruce headed upstairs, shaking his head.

--

After what seemed like the tenth flight of stairs, Anna turned down a large hallway and found her way into a smaller room than the library she was in before. The air was fresh in it but she suspected it was only because the door was kept open. There were more books along the walls but instead of a squishy chair or a couch in the middle of the room she bumped into something hard that stood at about waist height. Her hands immediately went to work.  
It was smooth, wooden, with a flat top but a gentle curve around the side. Anna slowly moved around it to the front and touched the recently dusted black and white keys. Even pianists with sight learned the instrument by touch on their own. Anna's mother believed the same thing when she tried teaching basic piano to Anna when she was a child. But it didn't capture her interest until later in life.

Anna sat on the creaky bench and gently dragged her fingers along the paneling just above the keys until she found the cold metal letters of the manufacturer. Middle C was found.


	3. Chapter 3 Meetings

Chapter 3 - Meetings

He jogged his way up his second flight of steps and realized he couldn't call out to her because he didn't know her name which led him to question himself yet again on whether he'd done the right thing by bringing her into his home. At the time he saw no alternative. Anyone else would have patched her up, taken her statement, and sent her back home on her own where she didn't even have a dog to help her out. The Claven's knew where she lived and she would have been killed that night if he hadn't followed two of the gang to her apartment.  
He'd left them alive on purpose. Hopefully they bolted and told their boss man that they had caught Batman's interest. That should keep them low for a few days and allow Bruce to figure out why they wanted her in the first place.

Bruce wandered the halls, checking in every room until he heard the sound of a piano being played – Green Sleeves if he knew anything about music. He followed the sound and came upon one of the smaller libraries that also housed a dark cherry baby grand. He'd found her and she was playing the piano, completely unaware of his presence and rarely hitting a sour note as she felt along the keys finger position after finger position.

Bruce didn't disturb her. Instead, he moved around the piano and eased himself down on the bench next to her. She stopped playing, her hands nervously hovering over the keys and a ready apology on her lips until the left hand part of the song began to play next to her. Bruce wasn't as comfortable with it as she was but he remembered most of the song. Anna joined in with the treble clef and they matched each other, Anna sometimes putting her left hand over his own and adjusting his fingers if he hit an incorrect chord. Funny, she didn't expect Alfred's hands to seem so young. The skin was smooth and the fingers stronger than she would have guessed. Perhaps he was younger than she thought.

They finished the song together and she allowed the last notes to ring out in the room until the silence settled again. Next to her, Bruce began to play the lower hand to Heart and Soul.  
Anna laughed heartily, "My Mom taught music for a living and she _hated_ it so much when we played that."  
"That's understandable," Bruce said.

Anna jumped a little and scooted away from him until she nearly fell off the bench, closing herself off to him. "You're not Alfred," she said.  
Bruce shook his head in reprimand of himself, realizing much too late that a person should probably announce themselves to a blind person before anything else - especially one who hasn't been introduced previously to said blind person. At least the young hands were explained to Anna

"I'm sorry, I should've said. I'm Bruce Wayne," he held out his hand to her but all he received in response as a shudder as though she'd been with royalty and had forgotten to curtsey first.  
Her hands went to the piano instead, "I'm sorry, I should have asked first, Mr. – "

"No," he said firmly. "Don't you dare apologize and you call me Bruce starting right now. I'm not _that_ old yet."  
"Okay," she said uncertainly. "Now that you're here, I want you to know that I didn't ask to be brought here or anywhere else."  
"I know it," Bruce replied gently. "Don't worry about it, please. I'll probably have to convince Alfred that he can't keep you with him when this is all over."  
She relaxed a little, "He's a very sweet man. He's been so kind and patient with me."

"What's your name?"  
"Anna Kingston."  
"You only have your cane to help you find your way around, Anna? No seeing eye dog or anything?" Bruce kept his hands firmly folded in his lap and his body still so he wouldn't be responsible for startling her again.

"I manage okay," she said and played with her fingers as she looked away from Bruce's general direction. "I can't afford to keep a dog so I had to learn some other ways to get around."  
Bruce nodded making a mental note for future reference. "I don't see it here," he said, twisting around in his seat.  
"What?"  
"Your cane,"  
"Oh," she laughed as some color came into her cheeks. "I think it's upstairs…or maybe downstairs. I don't know what floor the bedroom was on much less the one I'm on."

It was okay if she didn't meet his eyes as he did hers. Bruce was beating his brain with those same words every few seconds. Recognition for her would always be different than from anyone else. She generally faced him but her eyes seemed to sit just above his left shoulder most of the time.  
"I grew up here and I still get lost sometimes," he touched the back of her hand hesitantly. "Come on, I'll be your seeing-eye dog." He waited until she grabbed a hold of his hand and stood with him. He looped her hand around his upper arm and guided her around the piano.

Anna held tightly to him and kept close so she wouldn't be able to stray too far and end up accidentally slamming into something or knocking over some expensive vase. That would be just her luck. But he kept her true, warning her of any steps, draperies, tables, and whatever else that might turn into an obstacle to her.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Anna said as they walked side by side down a flight of stairs.  
"About what?" Bruce kept a tighter hold on her as they walked downstairs in case she stumbled.  
"About me and those two men in my apartment last night," Anna's voice turned anxious as though their conversation was being recorded by mobsters then and there.

"You don't know why they came after you?"  
Anna shook her head, "_He's_ finding that out for all of us, apparently."  
Bruce smiled without caution, "He? You mean Batman?"

Anna shuddered and confirmed the subject by tightening her grip on Bruce's arm.  
"You don't like him?" Bruce asked with a raise of his eyebrows.  
"He dresses up in an outrageous costume every night and saves lives so I'm guessing he's a good person though he's not the most personable man in the world." Her face grew serious after the joke. "But what kind of a man can purposefully become something so frightening to others?"

"Maybe that's what it takes to find justice in the city right now," Bruce chose his words carefully but precisely.  
"Maybe," Anna couldn't help but agree after what had happened to her the night before. "You know," she tapped Bruce on the shoulder. "I heard that he actually has the ears on his head and they say that he flies too."  
Bruce glanced at her. She was smiling. "Yeah, I've heard that too."

"Doesn't it make you wonder if something happened to him like in that movie, _The Fly_? Maybe some kind of accident happened to him so he really is a giant bat and human hybrid."  
"You've been thinking a lot about this, haven't you?" Bruce could barely keep steady for want to laugh.  
"Actually, I just came up with it,"

"So you watch – or listen to films?" Bruce asked, anxious to change the subject despite its amusement.  
"Mom used to explain the visual parts to me – the things that weren't described in the dialogue."  
They'd moved off of the stairs and were walking along a large open corridor. The walls were littered with elaborate tapestries and paintings. Anna of course, took no notice.

"It's not my favorite pastime though," she continued.  
"What is your favorite pastime?" Bruce said as they found her bedroom and he seized her cane off of the bed.

"Music – oh, thank you – "she released him and he guided her out of the room. "I also like being read to. Alfred read a little to me today, bless his heart."  
Bruce took her hand and placed it on the railing of the next staircase that led down to the main floor before starting on the steps. Truthfully, he felt more secure when he was leading her around. The cane tapped gently as she swung it in front of her from side to side.

Anna however seemed perfectly at ease with her cane back in hand. "I like learning in general – making up images in my head when people describe something to me. It's easier to touch it but that's not always an option." She let out a small laugh, "For example, for some reason they don't let you walk right up and feel all over the statue of the David."  
Bruce laughed loudly as he understood her meaning, "How do you create images in your head if you were born blind?"

Anna smiled slyly, "That would be like me asking you to describe what seeing really is."  
They reached the landing on the main floor where Alfred was waiting, a calm look of relief on his face as he watched them come down the stairs. "Well done, Master Bruce, you've found her," he said.  
Anna grinned. "Hello Alfred," she reached out for him and he took her hand as she stepped closer to him, found his cheek and gave him a kiss. "Thank you for today."

"Thank you Miss – "  
"Anna – "  
"Miss Anna," he took her hand and led her towards the kitchen with Bruce following behind.


	4. Chapter 4 Sleepless Fears

Chapter 4 – Sleepless Fears

Gotham had been filled with different factions of mobs and gangsters since the beginning of time, it seemed. Before Batman came along nearly all of these groups were household names throughout the city. Falcone, Dirkwood, Lovings, and dozens of others. What had made these monstrous groups of people worse was not only the fact that they were feared by the general public of the city but because they also seemed to feud nonstop with each other.

After the arrival of the mysterious yet heroic Batman many of the gangs had dissolved themselves – being either destroyed or purposefully broken apart in order to save their own skins. Two of the factions that had survived, however, were also the two most dangerous and powerful. The Clavens and what remained of the Falcones followers. Though he was in the loony bin there were plenty of people who were willing to take Carmine Falcone's place and become the supreme ruler of Gotham again as bleak as that sounded with the Batman still running loose.

The Claven gang wanted to take over what Falcone had left behind but too many old followers refused to be taken over by anyone and fought back. Back and forth and back and forth it had been going on ever since Batman's capture of Falcone, just before the crazies had busted out of the asylum. The city's underground was tearing itself in two and the police were willing to wait and let the two powers destroy themselves. But there were others who believed that the civil war would soon be driven above ground and would eventually rip the regained heart out of the city. As soon as one power took over the other, Gotham's people would be the next ones to suffer.

Bruce had just broken through. People were carrying hope around with them as they walked the streets. They looked to the light now, rather than willingly walk further into the darkness because they could see nowhere else to run to.  
With this feud the shadows were beginning to close in again and it somehow involved Anna Kingston, a blind woman who lived on the north side.

So far, Anna had been with the Wayne's for a week. Of course her job had been taken care of as was her apartment. All would be waiting for her when she returned to her life. Bruce had seen to that without hesitation.  
Batman had scared them off. Bruce had only heard small whispers throughout the week regarding some sort of peace offering that was supposed to have been delivered from the Clavens to the Falcones – the weaker faction to the stronger one. It had been intercepted and somehow Anna knew something or she had a physical clue that she may or may not be aware of as to who'd taken the peace offering.

The bottom line was that whatever it was had not been delivered as previously arranged and the two battling mobs continued their search for each others blood thus remaining two separate entities and therefore easier to break down and weed out than if they'd joined together.  
Anna was the key now and Bruce was determined to keep the key from falling into the wrong hands. The rumors themselves were assurance enough that he'd done the right thing by hiding Anna away where no one would think to look for her. According to what he'd heard during his nights of prowling, the woman with dark hair had simply vanished with no trace left behind.

--

Alfred delighted in the fact that Anna was to stay for an interminable amount of time at the Wayne mansion and though Bruce never would admit to it openly, he slowly found that he was enjoying that fact as well. It was gratifying, having someone better looking than Alfred greet him kindly when he came home from wherever he'd been. He loved Alfred like a second father but Anna was a pleasant change nevertheless.

She was still frightened of course. But Bruce never suspected it until the beginning of the second week of her stay.  
Bruce had returned home very late - or early depending on the point of view – after spending the night as his other self. He'd cleaned up in the bathroom on the first floor and was heading upstairs to a very welcome bed after carefully storing the physical aspects of his alter ego away.

He rubbed his eyes and rotated his neck and shoulders to loosen up a little when he heard a soft sound as he reached the second floor. His ears pricked at the sound and he stopped. It came again, a low, smooth humming floating down the corridor like a ghost. Bruce was a little more practical than to believe he'd suddenly procured a noisy apparition in his house and began to investigate. It didn't take him long.

An orange flickering light fell onto the floor of the hallway from a large solid oak door that stood open. His father's study.  
Bruce cautiously and silently crept to the open doorway and peered inside. In his father's oversized leather armchair sat Anna facing a blazing fire in the hearth at the far end of the room. Her legs were curled up underneath her, tucked beneath a sky blue night gown and a soft fuzzy blanket that was wrapped around her shoulders.

The firelight lit the room in sporadic bursts of light and shadow, sharpening and softening the lines of Anna's face and hands. Her eyes pointed to the grate but saw nothing still.  
Bruce stepped onto the thick carpet, "Anna," he said gently. "What are you doing up?" he asked after her face turned to where his voice had come from.  
"I didn't hear you come in," she said softly. "Alfred lit it for me before he went to bed," she pointed to the corner of the room. "I've been keeping it going with the extra wood he left for me."

Bruce came in and sat down next to her on a not so cushy chair.  
"Can you hear it, Bruce?" she said, barely whispering. "The music in the flames. It's mesmerizing like the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The sound is so disruptive."  
"I think it's the sight of the fire that captures people's interest most of the time," Bruce said with a shrug.

"Tell me," Anna said.  
Bruce looked from her to the fire feeling unprepared for such a task. But his eyes stayed on the flames, the light brightening and shading his sharp eyes and roughly sculpted features. "Some people see their memories, images that no one else can see in the flames. They're bright, chaotic…violent – destroying the very chemistry of another thing using it as fuel to keep itself alive." He spoke slowly and quietly as each thought came to him. "When the wood can't burn anymore there's nothing but black and grey material that crumbles and floats away in your hands." He stopped, refocusing his eyes and rested them on Anna once more.

"You make it sound so sad," Anna said not to criticize but only to make known.  
"What do you hear from it?" Bruce said, shaking his thoughts from his head.  
"Rhythms," Anna replied as though she were speaking of something sacred. "Constant, changing rhythms that bring the warmth with them. I hear the sound of thousands of dancing shoes hitting the floor, the wings of birds, the clapping of hands, laughter," she paused, the sound of the fire catching her again. Her hand stroked over a fold in the blanket that lay on her lap.

"Were you working late?" she asked.  
"Yeah, some things needed tying up before I could leave them," Bruce said vaguely. "Does Alfred know you're not sleeping?"

Anna shook her head once and shifted slightly in the large chair. She wasn't a petite woman but as she sat there, perhaps it was the chair itself that made her look so small in it. Bruce remembered vividly how much larger the chair seemed to him when he was a child.  
He could see his father sitting in it still as he read over medical journals or the evening newspaper. Sometimes Bruce found him just sitting in it, gazing at the books on the wall or the empty grate of the fireplace. He'd always suspected that his father was never really seeing what he was looking at in those instances. Bruce had always asked him about it but his father would only smile warmly at him and say, "When you're older Bruce, you'll sometimes need to find a time and a place where you can clear your head. Too much thinking isn't always a good thing."  
Bruce hardly ever entered his father's study after his parent's murder. He would expect to see the warm smile of the man sitting in his designated chair without fail and he'd be disappointed every time which was why he avoided the room altogether.

It wasn't as bad for him this time, however because Anna fit in there so well and reminded Bruce of his father, the way she sat so quietly, minding her thoughts and saw nothing in front of her.  
"Alfred's already troubled enough with me," she replied.  
"But you'll have me worry?" Bruce said, with a small smile.

"You asked," she said, trying to hide her amusement. "And you don't strike me as a worrier, Bruce."  
"What do I strike you as?"  
Anna took in a breath and let it out slowly before she answered. "You strike me as a person who'd rather get things done than think them through over and over again."  
Bruce smiled despite himself, "Good, so tell me what's keeping you up."

Anna laughed a little, something that put Bruce more at ease. It had been the first smile he'd seen from her all day. "I have dreams once in a while," she said casually. "I feel like someone's searching for me and I'm running from them."  
"Do they ever find you?" Bruce leaned forward, folding his hands together and resting his chin on them.  
"Sometimes. I've woken up scared out of my mind feeling that someone's still in the room with me," she chuckled only it wasn't out of amusement. "I'm up for most of the night after that because I just can't shake the feeling."

Bruce understood immediately. So many years after his parent's death he still would wake in a cold sweat believing he had the blood of his parents on his hands and face. He watched their bodies drain and their skin grow cold as his father's staring eyes glazed over like fog on glass. The images didn't plague him nearly as much anymore. He'd found other things to occupy his thoughts during the day…and night.

Anna shivered and turned her face to him in a soft smile, "You've probably had a hard day, Bruce. I can _hear_ how tired you are. Go on to bed," she spoke in a motherly tone but Bruce didn't move.  
Instead he was looking at her thoughtfully, "Maybe I can teach you some self defense. I know the basics pretty well. It'll at least get your mind off of your fears during the day."

Anna raised her eyebrows at his suggestion, "Are you sure? I'm not exactly the best student."  
"Sure," Bruce said.  
"Sounds fun," she said with a nod.

"We'll start tomorrow if you let me take you back to your room now."  
"I knew there was a catch," she said but got to her feet, untwisting her nightgown around her.  
Bruce picked up the soft blanket from the chair and draped it around her shoulders as she took a hold of his arm and he led her quietly out of the study.


	5. Chapter 5 Watch and Learn

Chapter 5 – Watch and Learn

As promised, the next day Bruce greeted Anna in the late morning in the gym room after Alfred had found her some appropriate clothes for the occasion. Alfred led her into the room asking her to go easy on him as Bruce strapped black Velcro gloves over her hands. This alone made her a little uneasy because most of her fingers were covered which inhibited another one of her senses.

"Okay, this'll be a little more difficult than usual because I'll have to show you what to do by touch for the most part,"  
Anna nodded, wiggling her fingers in the restrictive gloves. Bruce moved behind her.

"How did he get a hold of you before?" Bruce had been listening from the outside window when the two men had entered her apartment. All he knew for certain was that her mouth had been covered.  
Anna took in a sharp breath, "He – he grabbed me from behind," she said shakily.  
Bruce rested his hands on her shoulders, startling her slightly, "It's alright - this is just practice, okay? You won't get hurt, I promise."  
Anna nodded stiffly, "I know it, Bruce. I'm sorry."

"Where were his hands?" Bruce asked.  
"One was over my mouth," she pressed her fingers to her lips. "And the other arm was across here," she drew a line with her finger across her ribs just below her bra line.  
"Typical coward," Bruce grumbled. "Attacking a blind woman from behind."  
"Yeah, I guess so," Anna laughed softly.

"We'll start with that," he said, hesitating for just a moment before he grabbed her as she had described.  
His hand clamped over her mouth and he held her around her ribs. Though Anna knew very well who it was that held her – it was a very loose grip compared to when she'd first experienced it – the panic erupted in her mind at full force, shoving every other thought aside. She struggled against him but he held her more firmly showing that he could be more forceful than the man that had attacked her. She squirmed and whimpered, her voice muffled beneath his hand.

"Stop, Anna, stop," Bruce said firmly.  
She stopped, heaving breaths through his fingers.  
"That's lesson number one," he muttered softly in her ear after she'd grown still. "Never let your fear take you over, Anna. There's a way out of nearly every situation and the key is to control your fear enough to allow yourself to find your way out."

Her breathing slowed, she slipped her hand from beneath his arm and wiped her eyes. She nodded.  
"You don't need to take me down completely. Your goal is to get away or at least call for help." He took his hand away, wiping it on his pants and let her go. "Try again," he said, taking a step back.

Anna braced herself and Bruce took a hold of her again. She squirmed a little but kept her head, lifting her leg up and slamming her foot down on top of his. They were both in trainers but it pinched the top of his foot. Bruce grunted and loosened his grip. Anna wrenched his arms off of her and ran a few steps from him, a triumphant smile on her face.  
"Hah!" she said, then her face fell as she turned to face where she believed she'd left him. "Are you alright?"  
Bruce laughed, "Yeah, well done. You didn't let the fear get to you and that gave you the will to protect yourself. Panic is instinctive, Anna. You're smarter than your instincts." He took her by the arm and brought her to the center of the mat. "Let's try it again."

Anna was a little more confident after that. Bruce continued grabbing her from behind until she had tried every way she could think of to get away including an elbow to his ribs and a swinging fist into his groin which Bruce had thankfully been prepared for with some extra padding in that area. But he still had to sit down for a minute afterwards.

They tried other scenarios. Bruce came at her from all sides and had a few bruises that documented her progress. He came at her from the front after showing her how to strike an attacker by a blow to the face or to the knees.  
Every maneuver he showed her had to be done by contact between them. Bruce would line his body against her back and she would follow the movement of his arms and the stance of his legs by holding hers against his. She learned the position of the hands by Bruce holding his in the correct position and Anna would feel where he held his fingers, how loose his hand was in a fist and then mimic him.  
It made for slower progress but Anna learned quickly, especially when Bruce taught her how her cane would come to be an advantage in certain situations.

They were laughing, both tired but satisfied. Anna rested on the bench press beside the mat as Bruce played with her cane when Alfred came in.  
"Master Bruce, you have a telephone call. Miss Rachel."

Anna sat up as Bruce thanked Alfred and she listened to him leave the room and even afterwards until his footsteps disappeared. "Alfred?" she said to the room."I'm right here my dear," Alfred said, sitting down next to her on the bench. "I hope he wasn't too rough with you. He tends to go overboard." There was a depth in his voice that implied meaning but Anna couldn't fathom what it could be.  
"No, no, Bruce was great. He taught me a lot. Now I'm so tired I think that I'll sleep soundly tonight no matter what dreams I have." She spoke with a bright smile, brushing her hair from her forehead, making it stick up at every angle.

"He's not afraid of a lot, is he?" she said, playing with the Velcro strips on the gloves she wore.  
Alfred took her hand, "Oh Miss Anna, you've not known him for as long as I have. Believe me, he has his fears just like the rest of us. The only difference is that he's learned to use them and face them – well, most of them – rather than run away from them."

Anna sighed and wiped her forehead. Footsteps came closer until they were in the room but Bruce said nothing.  
"Go on and get cleaned up, dear and I'll get you something to eat," Alfred said, handing her the wooden cane.  
"Thank you," she said, kissing him on the cheek before she stood and made her way through the maze of gym equipment to the doorway where Bruce was standing. He made sure she got through the doorway alright and let her go on her way, the sound of her cane tapping lightly on the floor of the hallway faded into nothing. By that time she knew the mansion well enough that the two men could let her go on her own. It was only a matter of counting steps and rooms when you got down to it.

Bruce's face was long and he held a cordless phone in his hand. Alfred leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looking expectantly at his young master.  
"She had to cancel," Bruce said, scratching the back of his head as he tossed the phone to a stack of mats on the floor. "Some case that's going to take her into the weekend. I thought lawyers didn't work weekends."  
"Good ones do," Alfred looked thoughtfully at Bruce, his good friend and waited again.

"I could try Jessica again," Bruce suggested to no one in particular.  
Alfred shook his head, "Shouldn't you try someone you actually enjoy spending time with?"  
Bruce unfastened his gloves and peeled them off of his hands as he rolled his eyes and kept the remainder of his thoughts to himself. "Maybe I won't go. They don't give credit to the right people anyway."

"Now, Master Bruce, being thanked is never what you're after and you know it. They expect Bruce Wayne to be there."  
"Yes, I know it."

They kept silent until Alfred couldn't take it anymore, "Speaking of which, do you know any more about the Clavens?" he spoke darkly.  
Bruce scratched his head again, ruffling his hair, "She must have _something_, Alfred – something stolen most likely. But that means that she's lying to us."  
"No," Alfred turned stone serious. "There's something else. I don't believe that for a second and I know you don't either."  
"I don't want to," Bruce said, leaning against the door frame and fiddling with the gloves in his hands.

You haven't asked her yet either, Alfred thought to himself. Anna was an innocent, he was certain of that, he would bet his life on it. If she were hiding something it was because she was scared and that would be it. She was a warm, beautiful young woman who'd brought a light into the house that Alfred hadn't seen since Bruce's parents were alive. "Try the rolodex sir, though it may be difficult to find someone when the benefit is so close." Alfred gave the smallest hint of a smile as he left, ignoring Bruce's sarcastic stare.


	6. Chapter 6 Seeing Whispers

Chapter 6 – Seeing Whispers

The casino roared with noise. It was always busy even on a Monday morning it was busy, practically running itself which made it ideal to have a private conversation. Everyone inside were too preoccupied with their own financial fate to concern themselves with eavesdropping on strange conversations.  
Jake Claven, one of the most backwards men in town with thick dark hair and eyebrows to match sat at a small table across from a younger looking man with sharp eyes and a thin mouth. Claven rotated his glass in between his hands on the table top as he withstood Falcone's glares during the explanation as to why the package had not been delivered.

Two weeks, Falcone reminded him. It had been nearly two weeks and there's no bloody sign of it. No, of course there wouldn't be because they lost the damned thing! Claven already searched his messenger and when he'd come up with nothing the kid received a bullet in his brain pan but not before mentioning the girl with the cane. The kid swore up and down with a gun pointed in between his eyeballs that the blind woman had something to do with them losing the item. Claven racked his brain afterwards and still couldn't come up with any reason how she could have interfered. But it was his only lead.

Claven had pounced on it and by doing so gained the attention of a certain oversized rodent. Now the girl was gone as well and they had less to go on than before. Falcone wasn't interested in the girl or the bat and was quickly losing his patience with the excuses of his would be ally – a word that had not been in his vocabulary previous to Clavens proposal.  
Falcone gave Jake Claven one more week or he'd find something more frightening than a man who dresses up like a bat to scare him with. Falcone downed the rest of his drink and left Jake weighing his options at the table inside the casino.

--

The night sky was overcast and threatened rain but he wanted to be certain that the now younger but still balding Falcone had left the building. After he was satisfied, he slipped through a window and landed inside some sort of maintenance corridor.

--

Claven weaved his way through to the back of the casino and into one of the offices. Half a dozen men ranging in ages from twenty to fifty sa around a rickety card table playing their umpteenth round of poker. All six pairs of eyes moved to Claven as walked in and shut the door, waving away some of the cigarette smoke that had accumulated in a thick gray cloud above their heads.  
"Put out that shit," he said angrily. "Makes you all smell worse than normal."  
The six men smiled but did as they were told and extinguished their cigarettes.

"Seven days," Claven said. "We've got seven days to find it or the girl or both or Falcone will burn our asses. I aint gonna let that little twerp take us so I want everything that can be done, done. Fan out, tip off your friends at the police stations if you have to. I want the whole of this God forsaken city covered or I will burn _your _asses first. Three days and meet back here with some good news." He turned to leave.

"But what about the Batman, Jake?" one of the men said. "It's like he's watching out for her himself, personal like."  
Claven turned back around, his eyes dangerous. The man who spoke sunk down in his chair slightly, wishing he'd never opened his mouth.  
"I don't give a damn about the bat," Claven said darkly. "He's just one crazy ass man. Falcone don't care about him either. He just wants his payoff and because we need to survive, I'm gonna get it to him."  
The barking was finished and Jake exited the stuffy room with a slam of the door and the cigarettes came back out of nowhere in fresh puffs of smoke.

--

The black shadow was surrounded by white walls in dull lighting. Three days. Claven's men would be crawling all over Gotham more than ever before – all of them looking for Anna. Though they only had a rough description of her from what he'd heard there weren't a lot of blind women in the city.  
He had his work cut out for him. New rules formed in his mind in that moment. She would not be allowed out anywhere without an escort, preferably himself. That also gave him an idea. She'd have to stop using the cane. It wouldn't be enough.

He crept along the narrow corridor and slipped out of the same obliging window into the night air.

--

A few days later, another session of self defense classes commenced, under Alfred's supervision. This would have been her fourth lesson under Bruce's tutelage. Bruce had himself blindfolded to make things a little more even between them. It also helped to give him a feel for what she had to deal with.  
"Keep your hands up," he said, circling Anna on the mat. They followed each other's movements by their steps on the mat and the sharp breathing from one another.

Bruce would hold his breath for a few seconds to throw her off as he moved and suddenly appeared behind her. Anna quickly learned and began to do the same.  
"You two shouldn't keep that up too long or this will be a passing out contest," Alfred said after a few minutes of watching them.  
Bruce released his breath first and Anna threw a punch in that direction, hitting him in the shoulder and tipping him off balance as she lashed out with her padded knee and hit him in the thigh. Bruce countered, now knowing her exact position and swept his leg beneath her feet, knocking them out from under her.

Anna yelled and grabbed onto Bruce's shirt, pulling him down with her. They landed in a heap on the mat. Bruce took off his blind fold only to be met with her legs and feet right in front of his face. Anna burst into laughter as Alfred sighed and leaned back in his seat.  
"Are you okay?" Bruce said from somewhere near her feet.  
There was going to be a nasty bruise left from that last hit to the inside of his thigh but he'd never let on to it. In fact, he was proud of her. She was his first student and was doing very well with or without her handicap.

"Well," she said breathlessly. "I know I can hold my own against anyone as long as they have their eyes covered," she laughed again. "Are you alright?"  
"Yeah," Bruce replied automatically.  
"Damn," she said.  
"Why?"

"I didn't even hurt you just a little bit?" she said pleadingly.  
Bruce and Alfred exchanged glances. "Well," Bruce said slowly. "My shoulder aches a little."  
She kicked at the side of his leg as they lay on the mat.  
"Ow!"  
"Yes!" she laughed some more, turning hysterical.

"You want to go again?" Bruce said as he helped her up.  
"Sure, yeah," she loosened her arms and took the stance Bruce had taught her.  
"Legs further apart and hands up," Bruce said and reassumed his blind fold.

They both put their guard down when a distant chiming went through the house.  
"That's not one of your clocks," Anna said, listening some more.  
"It's the front gate. Don't kill each other while I'm gone," Alfred said as he strode out of the room.

"Get your guard up," Bruce said, slapping at her hands.  
Anna focused again and held his breath, quickly side stepping her but she turned hearing his feet on the mat and aimed a kick at him. He caught her foot –  
"Master Bruce," Alfred called.  
Anna and Bruce stopped in mid maneuver, Anna balancing on one leg.  
"Your order has arrived,"

Bruce ripped of his blind fold and dropped Anna's foot. He didn't say a word but took Anna by the hand and dragged her up the stairs to the main floor with her questioning him the entire way. She had to run to keep up with him but she didn't worry about smacking into anything anymore when Bruce was leading her. They reached the main floor where Bruce stopped and covered Anna's ears.

"Bruce, what's going on?"  
"It's a surprise," Bruce said closely behind her. "We got something for you."  
"You _what_?" she said nearly yelling at him. After everything Bruce and Alfred had done for her they were ordering…stuff too?  
Bruce took on hand off her ear and covered her mouth as he pushed her forward. A series of small yips and barks, some larger and deeper than others, echoed in the main entry way. Anna stepped toward their sources, her expression in a permanent state of shock. She covered her mouth with her hands.

"Pick one," Bruce said. "Pick one to be your eyes, Anna."  
"Oh Bruce," she whined a little, stamping her foot. "Why'd you do this? I can never pay you back –"  
"That's why it's called a gift – yes, I believe that's the word," he said smartly.

There were five dogs in all, two Golden Retrievers, an Alaskan Husky, a black Labrador, and a midsized Beagle. Anna counted five from their different barks. Two trainers kept the dogs in place where they sat waiting for Anna to choose.  
"They're all fully trained and are very loyal breeds," one of the trainers said proudly.

Bruce led her to the first one, the black lab – a little frisky and high on energy. It nearly tackled Anna with it's want to play but the trainer and Bruce held it back. Anna touched the rich black fur moving from the dogs head to its neck and back. The coat was smooth and silky to the touch.  
"Tell me, Bruce," she said with her hands scratching the dog's ears which it seemed to enjoy very much.  
"It's a Labrador, fully black with dark brown eyes – " Bruce described each animal in detail as Anna stroked it.

The Beagle was also very playful but too small for Bruce's taste. The Golden Retrievers were quieter and sat patiently as she touched them in turn. The Husky however, kept very still and silent as Anna approached him. He had one brown eye and one blue eye in a lush coat of white and grey over his back. Anna knelt down next to him as Bruce described him and she fell in love. He kept so silent and patient with her like he already knew her even when her hands moved over his nose and soft cheeks. It was easily decided that she would keep the Husky with Bruce's approval because he believed the dog would do a decent job of protecting her as well.

After the trainers left with the other dogs and gave proper care instructions to the three of them, Anna tested him first. She sat on the first step of the stair case and clapped her hands, calling to the dog. He immediately went to her, pushing his face in between her hands.  
"Oh Bruce," she moaned sadly.  
Bruce sat down next to her on the stairs, looking baffled.

"I can't keep him. He's so lovely but you've already given me so much that I can't pay back. You and Alfred both." She sounded thoroughly depressed.  
Bruce smiled as the dog rested his head in her lap which seemed to upset her more. "There's a price for this one," Bruce said slyly.  
"What is it?" she said without hesitation.  
"You've heard me talking about the police benefit on Saturday?"

Anna nodded. She'd wanted to ask him if he'd ever found a date for it, the poor thing.  
"Well, the dog is yours if you go with me to the benefit."  
Anna's jaw dropped open, "But you said I shouldn't leave here," which was true enough.

"Anna, we'll be surrounded by cops," and not to mention Batman himself will be with you the entire time!  
"But I don't have a dress," she said.  
"I think we can take care of that," Bruce looked to Alfred who nodded and stepped out of the room. "Will you come?"  
"Yes, of course I will. I don't mean to sound like I don't want to go. I just didn't think you'd want to drag a blind woman around with you all night,"

He suppressed a laugh, "It's not a burden, dragging you around."  
"I always thought you had your pick of the litter, so to speak," she said, absently stroking the dog's head.  
"Oh, I see. And you didn't think I'd pick you," he said.  
"Not in a million years," she laughed.

Bruce considered her carefully for a moment, "One day you should ask me to describe you."  
Anna couldn't think of how to respond but he didn't give her the chance. "What are you going to call him?" he scratched the top of the dog's head.  
"I was thinking 'Fluffy'," Anna said plainly.  
Bruce groaned, "Fluffy? It's a boy, Anna."

She burst into laughter, startling the dog. "I know, I just wanted to see how you'd react." Her smile drifted away and she looked thoughtful. "What do you think about Luke?"  
Bruce considered for a moment and nodded slowly. "I like it," he patted her on the knee. "I'm going to go change," he got to his feet and went up the stairs, two at a time.

Anna surprised herself when she trembled just slightly at his touch. She stroked Luke's head who nuzzled her hand and kissed at her fingertips. He only asked her to accompany him because it was short notice after that girl canceled on him. That was all. There was nothing in his voice that hinted at anything else. They were more like brother and sister – he'd gotten very protective of her as a brother would and that was all.  
"There's nothing else," she said to Luke as the arguments scattered through her brain. She found the leash Luke was trailing with him and got to her feet.

Bruce leaned on the railing that overlooked the staircase and watched her go, Luke leading her faithfully through the corridor. He had no idea what she meant when she spoke. The past two weeks he'd been perfectly distracted from his house guessed and was always willing to be with her when the time permitted.  
As he watched her walk away then he thought of her curled up in his father's chair in front of the fire, the orange light highlighting her delicately featured face. He'd have to confront her soon, before the benefit. Tomorrow he'd ask her and maybe keep Alfred around for back up in case she got defensive.


	7. Chapter 7 Getting Ready

Chapter 7 – Getting Ready

Anna and Luke were inseparable from the first day. It was more like Luke stuck to Anna like glue from the first day. He'd become her very furry body guard as well as her reliable eyes in quite a short time. After Luke had adjusted to the new living space and had gotten used to his three care takers he was lying quietly on the pile of mats in the corner of the gym room when Bruce and Anna began another day of training.

Bruce had decided to review. Anna braced herself as Bruce grabbed her from behind as he'd done dozens of times before but felt a distinct pain in his right calf. He let a confused Anna go as he grunted in pain and was faced with a maddeningly pissed off dog. Bruce fell onto his back and ripped off his blind fold. Luke stood in between him and Anna, his teeth bared and the fur on his back sticking up on end like spikes. Bruce made no movement at all until Anna figured out what was going on.

"Luke!" she bent down and held the dog to her. "Stop it, Luke. No!" she said firmly.  
The growls died away and Luke kissed Anna's cheek as he returned to his normal temperament.

After that incident, Luke seemed to only tolerate Bruce around Anna and still growled deep in his throat until Anna told him to stop if he thought Bruce was too close. They kept Luke upstairs during self defense and thankfully, Luke had only nipped at Bruce as a first warning. But Bruce didn't mind in the least. In fact, he wanted to keep the dog on his toes around Anna.

--

The day before the police benefit, Bruce and Anna were going at it again in the gym. Bruce stood over Anna who was lying on the mat after having been knocked down for the hundredth time. Bruce had quit using the blind fold and wasn't letting her get away with much anymore. It was getting to be crunch time and he refused to have Anna left defenseless in case something were to happen and he couldn't be there.  
She reached up and Bruce caught her hand, pulling her to her feet. "You've got to know where your feet and hands are at all times or they'll give you away."  
Anna nodded and backed away from him, taking her stance again, her face pointing somewhere around Bruce's neck.

"May I ask you a question?" he said before Alfred walked into the room and glared at him threateningly again.  
"Sure," Anna smiled and landed a punch on his chest. Bruce rocked back a little from the impact.  
"What do you remember from that night?"

Anna let her guard down, her arms flopping at her sides, her face exasperated. "Bruce," she groaned. "I've told you, I've told the police again and again."  
"I'd like to hear it again," he took advantage of her distraction and grabbed a hold of her wrist but she twisted out of his grip before he could do anything else.

"I was on my way home down that same street I've always walked a million times before, past the noisy bar."  
"Jake's," Bruce reminded her.  
"Yes. I don't know if it was already dark out or if was getting dark. A man ran hard into me. He had to hold onto me for a second so we wouldn't fall over." She shrugged. "He said that he was sorry and I listened to his footsteps go down the street just to make sure. After he'd gone I started to walk again."  
"Then you heard the gunshots and someone running," Bruce continued for her.  
"I don't know how far away it was but I was so scared that I found my way into the bar and asked the bartender to call me a cab. He was very nice." She ended with a smile.

They were both sitting down on the mat, Bruce mulling it over in his head. The only reason she'd hide something was if she was afraid of any repercussions if she let something slip which was very possible. The story was exactly the same – consistent every single time she told it. But he was missing something.

--

A more detailed description of the blind woman was gladly provided by Jordan and Dale – the two men who found her at the apartment last time. Dozens of Clavens men were posted all over the city at malls, shelters, hospitals and anywhere else they thought she might go. But her apartment had stayed empty for nearly three weeks now, no one going in or out of it. It was as though she really had disappeared. Perhaps the Batman was more supernatural than anyone knew.  
Anyone walking down the street carrying a cane set them off though the few visually impaired individuals the spotted hardly fit the description of the young blind woman.

Their week was nearly over and Jake Claven was losing the rest of his mind over this maddening search for a person he'd never seen and who nobody seemed to know the location of. He was nearly to the point that he was considering robbing more safe deposit boxes to make up for it and start from scratch. To hell with the girl and the first package! He tried not to care that the bat had involved himself but in the back of his mind, it haunted him. He couldn't afford to lose more men, more of his forces, and he knew the bat wouldn't be sympathetic towards that. Having most of the Claven supporters out in the field at the same time was a great risk but Jake saw no other options besides surrender to the Falcones. He'd rather deal with the bat.

It grated on him, the proposition of joining with Falcone but it was either that or lose the rest of his money and his people in battling it out with an enemy he knew very well was stronger and more powerful than his was. He was choosing the lesser of the two evils as far as he was concerned. A dead blind woman would be a small price to pay. If they could only find her.

--

The benefit had been at the back of Anna's mind since Bruce had suggested it. She'd kept it there on purpose because if it jumped to the front of her mind she'd start her questioning over again and it always ended the same. There was nothing else and would be nothing else.  
The day of, however, it was all she could think about because Alfred had kindly arranged for a few of the local clothing designers in town to come to the house and fit a gown for Anna to wear.

She felt so embarrassed, standing in a room in front of a mirror, which she couldn't see, wearing expensive gowns and being scrutinized from head to foot by the designers, Alfred, and Luke who decided to bark when the moment seemed appropriate. Anna had learned of how she was going to get her dress just before the designers arrived. Bruce wasn't around for her to swat at and complain to and Alfred would pretend he couldn't hear her when she moaned at him guiltily because of what they were doing for her.  
So, she handled it though it was difficult to keep her neck and cheeks from blushing every time she was helped into another dress. Alfred described each dress in painful detail along with the designer's explanation of the fit and what shoes and jewelry should be worn with it.

Anna soon realized that she wasn't comfortable in backless styles or low necklines which helped everyone narrow it down. In the end, after following Alfred's suggestion, decided on what she was told was a beautiful dark forest green satin gown that fit her through her waist to her hips and flared out little by little until it reached the floor. The neckline was a wide scoop, nearly off of the shoulders with long sleeves  
Anna loved the feel of the fabric and the long, loose skirt that danced around her legs when she moved. It was fantastically comfortable and gave her free movement while still beautifully accentuating her figure according to the designer who had brought it.

It was lovingly hung up in the wardrobe in her room along with the matching green heels she'd be wearing with it before Bruce returned home at midday.

Alfred began finagling with Bruce the moment he'd come home over a matter of taking Anna into town for her hair and makeup because heaven knew very well that Alfred had no experience in the matter and he figured quite accurately that Bruce didn't know a damned thing about it either.  
Bruce wouldn't budge however until Alfred assured him that they'd only make one stop to the closest salon they could find and Luke would be with them the entire time. Bruce finally relented after Alfred pointed out that he was already planning to take her out that night anyway no matter how many 'that's different' protests Bruce made.


	8. Chapter 8 Friends

Chapter 8 – Friends

Though it had been weeks ago, Dale's body still ached from that damned Bat's beating on him. But naturally Claven wouldn't have cared if he was bleeding from his eyeballs. Everyone was on duty until this blew over. Thankfully though, he got a more quiet part of town to stake out. Most of it was pretty ritzy, just on the outskirts of the city.

Dale was at an outdoor café and had already eaten his body weight in pastries as he sat from the late morning into the afternoon. Expensive cars ran by back and forth, parking along the street, their occupants going into the boutiques and shops to spend more money.

Late that afternoon Dale finished reading another gossip column in a chick magazine. He'd been there all day and now knew more about the private lives of the current hot list of celebrities than he'd ever want to know in his entire life. He yawned and stretched as he stood up. A pair of women with legs that went all the way to Morocco in short floral skirts threw him disgusted looks as they passed by. He wasn't fazed at all and continued his crude muttering until they were out of ear shot.  
He grinned to himself as he glanced across the street. The grin disappeared as he froze in his spot.

Coming down the steps of some posh salon was an old man in a suit followed closely by a young woman in her mid twenties who held tightly onto the leash of a huge dog. She was smiling and her hair was different, shorter and darker maybe but it was definitely her. Dale watched her feel for the open door of the Rolls Royce the old man had apparently driven her in and slowly make her way inside the back seat after the dog had jumped in just before.

_It was her_. Dale dug into his pockets for his cell phone as he scampered to his decrepit car parked a block down the road.

--

It was a tuxedo. Most definitely yes. But the black neck tie rather than the bow tie looked classier. Bruce admired the effect in the mirror for a minute then grabbed a pair of silver cufflinks off of his dresser. He stepped out of his bedroom in his dark socks, nearly slipping on the marble flooring.

"Alfred," he bellowed.  
"One more minute, sir," came the call from down the open corridor.  
Bruce steadied himself in the doorway and rolled his eyes. Alfred was doting on her like a cooing grandmother.

Bruce fiddled with his cufflinks – oh he _hated_ cufflinks – gave up, and found his shoes. He tied the thin laces, finally mastered the cufflinks, and grabbed his jacket as he walked out of his bedroom and turned out the lights.  
The black tux jacket was pulled on and buttoned on his way to Anna's room. It's not that he was worried about being late. He was Bruce Wayne after all. Things tended to begin whenever he arrived – not by his choice of course. In truth, he was anxious to see Anna. He'd been worried the entire time she was gone that afternoon with Alfred until she was returned without incident to his great relief.

Bruce knocked on the closed door and heard Luke barking in response.  
The door opened a crack and Alfred stuck his head out, "Just a minute sir," he said with a smile as Luke squeezed through the open door below. The dog circled around twice and decided to sit next to Bruce's feet to wait. Bruce looked down at him, "Do you know what's keeping them?"

Soft mutters were coming from the inside of Anna's bedroom but Bruce couldn't catch all of it besides a "Yes, I know Alfred," from Anna. He smiled a little. Even Anna was getting a little fed up with his doting on her.  
The door opened finally and Alfred stepped out followed by a woman Bruce barely recognized. Normally, Anna didn't wear makeup for obvious reasons. Why wear makeup when you can't see yourself anyway and when you can't even see to put it on in the first place? It certainly made a difference though, not that she wasn't pretty without it. All of her features, however, seemed perfectly accentuated with it and the overall affect was stunning, even surprising to Bruce who hadn't been prepared for it.

Anna stepped out carefully, lifting her skirt up a little so she wouldn't tread on it and lifted her face as she stepped out of the room. Her hair was trimmed shorter and textured simply around her face. Her lips were frozen in a nervous smile as she turned her head this way and that, most likely thinking that Bruce was nearby.

He didn't make a sound at all and only watched her for a moment. The color of the dress brought out her eyes and she only wore one piece of jewelry, a silver necklace that set off the green in the dress.  
Anna stood just outside the doorway and her smile slowly melted from her face, "Wasn't he here, Alfred? I thought I heard him?" she reached out her hand to the air.

Bruce exhaled, remembering himself and grabbed a hold of her hand. The smile was back. She knew whose hand it was by now.  
"Tell me honestly," she said as though they were practicing in the gym and turned around once for the full effect. The skirt swished softly as she moved as though it was caught in a continuous breeze.  
He watched her again for a bit as an amusing thought occurred to him. He, Bruce Wayne, could have been wearing a potato sack and she would still have a smile for him and as he thought on it he became slightly aware that was all he cared about at the moment.

"You're beautiful," he said.  
"Alfred helped me pick out the dress. It is green isn't it? He wasn't lying to me just to jerk my chain was he?" she said as Alfred scoffed.  
Bruce smiled. "It is most certainly a green dress," he said as he clapped Alfred on the shoulder with a muttering that sounded like 'well done'.

He escorted Anna down the stairs and into the garage, selecting the Viper for the trip. It was a little easier to get into than the Lamborghini.  
"Remember you can't leave her on her own, sir or she won't know what the hell is going on – "  
"You know, I feel like it's her father talking to me before I'm taking her out, Alfred," Bruce said smartly as he helped Anna into the car. "Don't worry yourself," he winked and went over to the driver's side.

Anna found the lever to open the door. "Thank you, Alfred," she said and shut the door again as Bruce started the engine.  
It roared to life and Alfred watched them drive down the lane and out of sight silently hoping that very soon his master would come to his senses.

--

Dale and Jordan stood outside the gate, crouched down in the foliage by the forest road as they watched the sweet car streak past them. The butler was probably still home but they couldn't be sure if the girl was in that car or if she had stayed in the house. Jordan pulled out his phone for further instructions. A tail was sent out after the viper and more of Claven's men were on their way to the Wayne house. There had to be a way in.

--

Anna fiddled with her sleeves nervously and checked for the third time that the skirt of her dress hadn't been caught in the door even though Bruce had gentlemanly folded her dress in after her before he'd shut the car door.  
The car sat low but was comfortable and powerful judging from the sound of the engine and how she was pressed into the seat when Bruce pulled away from the house. It was frustrating because she couldn't think of what to do with herself and for some reason she couldn't sit still.  
Anna sat in that expensive car going over rules in her head that continually contradicted each other. She'd given in to her thoughts earlier on. She wanted it to be a date but because she didn't believe Bruce felt that way about it so she didn't know how she was supposed to proceed.

He would keep her with him the entire evening because she would literally be lost without him. She didn't like that at all. If it was an official date, he would keep her with him in the first place. But it wasn't. Anna sighed and tried to calm her thoughts, reminding herself that she'd been out of high school for several years now and that thinking that way shouldn't be necessary anymore.

"It's not what?" Bruce broke the silence that had gathered so thickly in the car.  
Anna turned her head, her thoughts fizzling, "What?"  
"You just said 'but it's not,'. What's not what?" he said, his eyes keeping to the road.

"Oh," Anna said, trying to hide her terror. "Nothing, I was just thinking."  
"About what?"  
"It's nothing, Bruce," Anna said quickly.

"You don't have to be nervous, Anna," Bruce said feeling he'd hit the mark at what was troubling her. "A lot of the people you'll meet tonight are friends of mine. They're good people…for the most part." He added with a small smile.  
"I don't doubt that," she replied.  
"Then what's bothering you?" the smile was replaced by a frown.  
"I just don't want to be this crippled woman you're dragging around with you because you feel you have to," Anna finally confessed, raising her voice in the cab of the car.

Bruce thought for a long minute before answering. "You don't think I'll enjoy myself because you believe I'll be looking after you?"  
"Something like that," she relented.  
He smiled at the windshield but she didn't see of course, "How do you feel right now, Anna?"

"I'm excited – scared, but happy because I'm with you and you're my friend…also the only person I will know – "  
"I'll tell you how I feel now," Bruce said as Anna cringed. "I should be thanking you for your charity because with you as my date and my _friend_ I'll have an excuse to enjoy myself a little at one of these things for once." He revved the engine and turned onto one of the main drags into downtown Gotham. "You're also a gorgeous woman, if you don't mind my saying so," he said fearlessly. "The problem is that I don't think you allow yourself to feel that way." He reached across the center console and took her hand in his as they drove into town.


	9. Chapter 9 Foxes and Bats

Chapter 9 – Foxes and Bats

The benefit was taking place at the city hall and thankfully there were few cameras waiting at the door because as Bruce had planned, they were late enough that many people didn't think he was showing up at all.  
They pulled up and the valet opened his door. Anna's door was opened and the valet reached his hand out to help her out of the car but Anna didn't notice. Bruce quickly made it around to the passenger side and tipped the awkwardly waiting valet, telling him not to worry about it. Instead, he bent down, touching Anna on the shoulder and put her hand around his arm. She stumbled a little, stepping out of the car but kept her poise and her feet under her with Bruce's help.

They entered the hall which had been converted into a lovely ballroom with circular dining tables along the perimeter and a podium at one side of the room. Anna listened to the chattering of people and light laughter with a string quartet playing in the background.  
She held onto Bruce like he was a life preserver as he was greeted and his hand shaken by friends and acquaintances. Bruce physically felt how tense she was and an idea came to him as someone he recognized but didn't know off hand approached him and asked how he was.

Bruce answered with a smile glad to be here et cetera. After the acquaintance left Bruce leaned down to Anna, "I think I've seen that guy maybe once before in my entire life."  
"But you asked about his family," Anna said nervously.  
"Everyone comes from somewhere or moves to somewhere else," he shrugged.

Anna grinned and her grip on him loosened a little, "You have a list of default questions?"  
"I have to," Bruce said with a chuckle. "There are too many people I don't know who act like they know me wherever I go."  
Anna giggled and relaxed a little more.

They were a very impressive couple, Gotham's prince and a lovely young stranger who almost immediately got the attention of several of the men in the room. Bruce and Anna were escorted to their table and brought drinks as Bruce scanned the room like a loyal watch dog. He found Captain Gordon along with his wife in the midst of a crowd standing across the room.  
"Anna," he said, taking her hand as she turned to him. "There's someone I need to talk to. I'll be back in two minutes, I promise." He waited as Anna bit her lip then nodded. "Don't be nervous, okay? I'll be back," he squeezed her hand and moved away from their table.

The air was suddenly much colder and Anna tried to keep her mind occupied by memorizing the table setting as her fingers moved along the linen table cloth and the silverware. Someone sat down next to her, too close for her immediate comfort and she recoiled slightly. The presence however seemed comfortable, as though they had always been there next to her.  
They'd sat on Anna's other side and she automatically raised her defenses again, taking her hands off the table and wadding them up in her lap and lowering her head. The gentleman smiled as he brushed some lint off of his sleeve.

"Your name is Anna?" the voice was definitely male, older - much like Alfred's only his was American.  
Anna only nodded, her nerves making it impossible for her to speak.  
"I'm Lucius Fox, Mr. Wayne is a good friend of mine," he had a kind voice, very wise. Mr. Fox took one of her hands in both of his and shook it in greeting.

Anna stiffened at first then slowly smiled, "I'm glad to meet you Mr. Fox. I don't mean to be rude. I've never been to anything like this before."

Fox nodded in understanding, "I don't blame you for being a little jittery. It can be very intimidating when you attend you first formal dinner where cuisine is elegant, sophisticated and not enough to sustain a fly. And the long winded speeches that go on about how successful the police departments have been lately –"  
Anna was laughing by now

"- that make you want to stab your eyes out with the designer silverware they set here. But that's not the interesting part."  
Anna covered her mouth for fear of laughing too loud, "What's the interesting part?" she said in a low voice.  
"The fact that everyone in this room knows damn well who is responsible for how successful the police are now but no one ever acknowledges him."

"Batman," Anna said softly.  
"Exactly, Anna," Fox said patting her hand with his dark and weathered one. "They owe him nearly every man that was arrested on the street this past year."  
"Really?" Anna said, sounding impressed.  
"Oh yeah…" Fox went on.

--

Bruce's eyes continued flicking across the room to the woman in the green dress, grateful that she wasn't alone and seemed relaxed for the moment which is why he was able to keep his mind on what the Captain was saying to him.  
"…don't know how long you and he should keep this special witness protection thing up. My boys have been asking around," Gordon said after taking a sip of his drink. "All we've heard is that they're looking for her. We don't have descriptions of all of Claven's men and even if we did there's no way we would be able to keep tabs on them all to protect one person."

Bruce listened carefully and nodded. That was exactly why he'd been keeping her where he'd been keeping her. "What about the Falcone informant?"  
Gordon sipped his drink and shook his head as the liquid burned satisfyingly down his throat. "What we need is a Claven informant."  
Bruce thought for a moment. He'd have to dig one up – or Batman would have to anyway. He thanked the Captain and started back to his table where Anna was talking animatedly to Fox who was laughing openly at whatever she was saying to him.

"It really is one of the more intimidating small, flying herbivores – " Anna said as Bruce sat down next to her, Fox attempting to conceal his laughter as he took his seat.  
"Bruce?" she said, reaching out and touching his sleeve.  
"Yeah, it's me,"  
"Mr. Fox and I were just discussing why the Dark Knight decided on a bat as his persona instead of something else."

"Excellent subject matter," Bruce eyed Fox who smiled helplessly. "What else would you suggest to him?" Bruce said, forcing the smile back from his expression.  
"I'm not sure. Maybe a wolf or a hawk. Those always sounded intimidating to me and they're carnivores aren't they? So that should count for something." She concluded.

Bruce laughed softly as someone tapped on their glass to gain everyone's attention so the proceedings could begin. The chatter died down as people took their seats at their designated tables around the room and quiet fell over the crowd as the commissioner of the Gotham police force stepped up to the podium. He introduced himself and began a speech that proved Fox right down to the letter.

The Gotham police force is finally making a dent in the underground crime of the city, busting the more dangerous people and keeping them in prison for the actual sentence term. Fear isn't as potent on the streets any longer.  
Anna smiled at Fox's soft chuckles coming from right next to her. It also didn't help her amusement at all as Bruce would lean in towards her occasionally making a well worded wise crack in her ear while also giving her a pleasant sampling of his soft cologne that seemed to match his tone of voice very well.

The commissioner droned on until his droning became redundant and even Anna was starting to fight the urge to fidget like a little girl and Bruce's comments were becoming more and more frequent.  
"When it was so close to death, when our beautiful city was crumbling beneath our feet we fought back and regained our streets, our homes, and very soon, our entire city will truly be ours again as it once was. I am proud to represent a group of such select and determined men and women who together, helped to make those who made us so afraid once upon a time run away in fear."

Fox had to work hard to control his laughter by that point.  
Bruce leaned towards Anna, "I would love it if he'd showed up to this as well."  
"You told me he doesn't want thanks," Anna whispered back.  
"He doesn't," Bruce muttered. "But this is just downright insulting, don't you think?"

Anna lowered her face and snorted in an attempt to hold back a burst of laughter but it didn't work too well. A woman from the table next to them looked over her shoulder and glared at the three of them. Though Anna didn't see, Bruce met the woman's eyes with a grin and raised his glass to her as the commissioner continued on.

After forty minutes he finally stopped to grateful applause and then presented some awards to certain officers which took another twenty minutes. One award, however, caught their attention for a moment. A little girl, no older than seven or eight, as Bruce described to Anna, walked bravely up to the commissioner at the podium. She was in a lovely pink dress with lace trim, but she wasn't smiling. Her face was very grave as she accepted a plaque in honor of her daddy who had died while he was on duty. Shot in the head, during a drug bust near the Narrows.  
The little girl thanked the commissioner and nearly ran back to her mother who sat sadly but proudly at one of the white linen tables.

"That poor little thing," Anna breathed as more applause erupted in the room.  
"That is why he should be thanked properly," Fox muttered. "He's stopping things like that from happening."


	10. Chapter 10 Spies

Chapter 10 - Spies

Dinner – tiny nibble sized portions just as Fox promised - was served shortly after the awards were presented. It didn't last very long as people were more contented to socialize and mingle than nibble on unrecognizable gourmet dishes. The string quartet started up again.  
Anna gave up on her food for the moment and Bruce had already devoured his nameless elf sized portion.

"So is it over? Are they done?" Anna said, listening to the chatter and the quartet.  
"The party isn't over," Bruce said.  
"All of the boring stuff is," Fox said. "Remember, you promised me a dance, Anna. I won't let you forget it either," he got up and excused himself for the moment, giving Anna a peck on the cheek.

"Did you want to stay?" Anna turned back to Bruce.  
"You dance?" Bruce said, sounding impressed.  
"A little. The better my lead is the better I am, naturally."

"We should test you out," he said, taking her hand.  
She pulled against him, "I'm not an airplane prototype, Bruce. I don't trust myself in front of all of these people."

Bruce laughed, "We're not trying to beat each other up like we normally do. It's just dancing. I need to get the feeling back into my legs anyway." He yanked a little harder on her hand and she stood with him.  
Anna reluctantly followed him to the center of the floor where he placed her hand on his shoulder and held the other in his left hand while his right set itself on the small of her back. She felt more comfortable when he was trying to grab her forcibly from behind with those Velcro gloves on.

She wasn't aware but they were the couple who started the dance. It wasn't until Bruce had led her to the floor that other couples began to get to their feet. Just as his father had done – Thomas Wayne never wanted to waste an opportunity to be close to his wife. Even as a child, Bruce noticed that and was surprised at other couples who always seemed hesitant to take the dance floor.  
Bruce kept her close so she could follow and tried to ignore the scent of her hair as he guided her steps. It seemed to work pretty well for the most part. She trod on his foot only once.

--

He eased along the wall, tugging at his shirt collar that continued to irritate his neck as he watched the one and only Bruce Wayne and the stranger in the green dress as they danced looking perfectly happy with each other's company.

Sergeant Bagel didn't have the best description of the girl he was supposed to be keeping an eye out for but the money was in his account, sort of a trust payment as it were which actually meant that if he tried anything like being a do-gooder for the first time in his life, more than the money would be taken away.  
It definitely was there. He'd checked, twice.

Bagel was contented with his job and with being the rank he was. It meant that there were people to answer to, yes but it also meant that he didn't have a lot of responsibilities put on him which is how he wanted it. The Clavens paid better than any Lieutenant's salary could anyway.

He watched Wayne and his guest carefully, taking notice that she never made direct eye contact with her date. Her eyes were unusually unfocused actually. Her hair was short and dark just as he was told and she was young – around mid to late twenties if he could've guessed.

Bagel felt a thrill leap up his spine because he'd actually come through. He'd found her first. Now how to proceed? Disrupting the party would be a bad idea. He wagered that from the size of Wayne, he'd be enough to deal with on his own, not to mention all of the other good cops swarming about the room. Instead, Bagel backed his way into a corner of the room and removed his cell phone from the inside pocket of his tuxedo as Bruce lifted his head and met his eyes from across the dance floor.

--

Bruce's grip on her tightened as he watched the officer with the cell phone. His eyes never left him. Bagel turned his back to the rest of the room as he spoke into the small device.  
"Bruce? Are you okay?" Anna asked as she tried to wriggle and loosen his grip on her. "You've gotten all twitchy."

The song ended and Fox returned before they even left the dance floor and took Anna by the hand as he made her laugh again. Bruce watched as they started with the next song then found Captain Gordon who held his third or fourth mystery drink in his hand.  
Bruce continued to watch Bagel as the officer put his cell phone away and kept his eyes on Anna who was still laughing at whatever Fox was telling her.

"What can you tell me about that one in the corner there?" Bruce pointed subtly to Bagel who stood in his corner, oblivious to anything but Anna.  
Gordon eyed Bagel for a second as he took another sip of the burning liquid, "He's newish, keeps pretty quiet – a mediocre cop. Why?"

"Do you know of any cops who might be working for Claven?" Bruce muttered.  
"It's still hard to tell. There are less of them for sure but…I'll keep an eye on him if you like," Gordon shrugged.  
"Thanks," Bruce patted him on the shoulder as the song ended again.

He kept his eyes on Bagel, daring him to look back at him as if he could convey with a look what the cop would be in for if he was doing what Bruce thought he was doing.  
Mr. Fox led Anna over to Bruce and his face slackened a little at seeing Bruce's expression. Bruce took her hand automatically which she didn't have to question anymore – his touch and scent were so familiar now. Bruce caught the look in Fox's eye but shook his head once, looking serious.

"We should probably go, I'm starving," Bruce said to her, his eyes not leaving Bagel.  
Anna thanked Mr. Fox who kissed her hand and left them, "Oh thank you! I'm hungry too," she said gratefully as Bruce guided her out of the room and back outside.

The temperature had dropped by at least ten degrees, or so Anna thought. She shivered but said nothing as they waited for the car to be brought up. A warm weight went around her arms and shoulders and it smelled like him. Bruce pulled his tux jacket around her as the car pulled up to the curb and he opened the door, helping her into it.

Anna pushed her arms through the sleeves of this jacket as he walked around and got into the driver's side. The cuffs of the sleeves came down to her finger tips and the shoulders of the jacket were much too broad but it was comfortable and warm. She smiled to herself as she pulled it closer around her and Bruce put the engine into gear.

They drove home in silence – all the way back to the house where Alfred and Luke were waiting for them with some roast beef sandwiches in the kitchen. Bruce explained shortly that Alfred always prepared for hungry people after going out to a fancy dinner.  
Luke followed them into the kitchen as Alfred excused himself for bed and left them to it, trying to hide a satisfied smile at seeing Bruce's jacket on Anna as he left the room.

Bruce loosened his tie and unbuttoned his top collar button after he guided Anna to a chair at a scrubbed wooden table and took a seat next to her. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Luke settled himself down at Anna's feet beneath the table as Anna fiddled with the sleeves of Bruce's jacket in order to get to her sandwich. It was too comfortable to take off and admittedly, she liked wearing it.

Bruce started on his sandwich and Anna took a few bites, looking thoughtful, "Did we leave early?"  
"Kind of," Bruce said after he swallowed.  
"You were bored?"  
"Kind of," he said again, trying to think of a more articulate explanation.

Anna smiled sweetly, resting her elbows on the table, "You know something interesting. When I was growing up I learned to read a person's mood by inflections in their voice the way everyone else reads facial expressions." She took a sip of her milk, Bruce waiting patiently though he knew what was coming. "For example, right now I can tell you're keeping something from me," she spoke lightly as though they were discussing the weather but Bruce got the point.


	11. Chapter 11 Perception

Chapter 11 – Perception

"Alright," Bruce said, resting his hands on the table top. "I'll level with you because I think you deserve it." He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "There was someone acting suspicious at the party tonight. He wouldn't take his eyes off of you once he noticed you and…he made a phone call."  
Anna's mouth opened and she gasped. "I shouldn't have gone with you." She muttered, gripping the table roughly beneath the sleeves of Bruce's jacket.

Bruce put his hand over hers, "Don't say that, Anna. The police are checking it out and they would never get to you here, I promise. It was just a feeling I had about one man there. It's probably nothing."  
Anna breathed deeply and found she'd lost her appetite. She rested her forehead in her hand, trying to calm her nerves. "I wish I knew what they were after. I would've given it to them the first time if I – "  
"Please don't say that, Anna," Bruce said sternly. "To be honest, if you hadn't gotten in their way I think we all would be facing a much bigger problem than what we're dealing with now."

She pulled his jacket tighter around her. If she hadn't been involved she would be home now, by herself in her apartment instead of having a late dinner with her friend, Bruce Wayne. That train of thought wasn't helping.  
Hearing his voice was one thing, she could listen to him all day, but sometimes she wished she could _see_ him better as ironic as that sounded but it was the only word she could come up with to associate the thought. Seeing for Anna was what her mother always tried to describe to her by allowing Anna to touch her face and learn what expressions felt like.

Bruce was an even bigger curiosity to her than other people she knew. They'd shared conversations over the past few weeks but she realized then as she sat there with him that she still hardly knew him at all. In those conversations she would talk and he would be the one listening. It was strange how he manipulated the conversations that way and even stranger that she was just coming to realize it now.

"Bruce," she said timidly.  
"Yeah,"  
"Would you describe yourself to me?" she asked, her eyes somewhere around his loosened neck tie.

Bruce locked his jaw defensively and his eyes grew hard for a moment. "Everyone knows about me, Anna."  
She shook her head, "Just the big stuff – what happened to your parents, the time you were gone, declared dead, then suddenly returned again,…what your favorite drink is… But that's all. That doesn't help anyone know you."  
"That's all there is," he said.  
"I don't believe you," she said nervously. She could almost feel the tension in his voice as though he was restraining himself.

He boiled for a moment. That's all he wanted anyone to know. After he'd returned home his mind had set on not allowing people too close besides the ones who already were. But Anna knew when he was lying better than Alfred did.  
"There's not much after that," he said more calmly. "The rest is trivial – brown hair, brown eyes and my nose is in the center of my face."

She stood up, Luke moving right with her, "I should probably get to bed."  
"I'm sorry, Anna," Bruce also got to his feet.  
"No, I'm sorry," she unbuttoned the jacket she wore. "I've upset you."

"I'm not upset," he said, putting his hands on the tuxedo jacket and pulling it around her so she couldn't take it off. She stopped trying to fight him and lowered her arms. Bruce took her hand beneath the sleeve that fell over her fingers. They stood there so long that Luke figured she wasn't leaving after all and settled himself down again under the table.  
"But you're uncomfortable," Anna said sadly.  
"I'm not," he said sincerely but Anna shook her head. His thumb ran over the back of her hand and she held tighter onto him.

"Would you -" Anna paused, hesitating.  
"What?" Bruce laced his fingers through hers.  
"Would you let me see you?" she said, barely audible.  
"What do you mean?" he said, furrowing his brow innocently.

Anna didn't reply and let go of his hand. He let his arm drop and waited as she reached up to him with trembling fingers. Her hands found his arms and moved up his sleeves to his shoulders, the collar of his shirt to his neck and up to his jaw. The pads of her fingers moved slower across his skin.  
Bruce tensed but stayed where he was, slowly closing his eyes against her touch as he felt her fingers move past his ears, into his hair and up along his forehead. His skin was smooth and his hair was thick and soft.

Her fingertips glided gently, barely touching across his forehead. He felt the warmth of her palms on his face as she reached his eyebrows, smoothing them over and down to his eyelids.  
Anna took in every detail, the shape of his brow bone over his closed eyes; the thickness of his eyelashes to the shape his eyes made, a sharp cornered point at the inside part.

Two fingers went over his nose from the bridge down to the tip, feeling every small bump and imperfection, then to his sharp defining cheek bones. Her hands moved gently and softly, as though she were touching a dried rose petal with the fear of crumbling it to dust and moved over his hollow cheeks to his mouth. His lips were thinner than she'd expected, the bottom one slightly fuller than the sharply cornered upper. She brushed her fingers across them, memorizing the shape and the feel before she moved to his chin and throat.  
Her hands met the loose shirt collar again and she stopped suddenly, realizing she hadn't been breathing for most of the time. Bruce opened his eyes and saw her, his hand lifting instinctively and taking a hold of both of hers, closing his long fingers around them. He held them on his chest after she'd stopped.

"That's how I see," her voice was cracked and he barely heard her. "Thank you."  
The skin on his face and hands tingled where she'd touched him. He'd never felt anything like it before in his life, the gentle caress of her small hands. It was the most intimate thing he'd ever experienced standing there in the kitchen, still wearing his tuxedo, with this woman who would never see him. But she did. She saw more than she ever realized or he would ever admit to.

Anna pulled at his grip on her but he wouldn't let her go just yet. His breathing became ragged, his brain trying to catch up to what he was feeling as he leaned down to her. He kissed the corner of her mouth and moved a little further, awkwardly at first until she understood what the touch on her skin was. A warm touch came on her cheek and she could feel his scent all around her as she kissed him – and what was more, he was kissing her back.

Bruce's brain finally did catch up and he pushed softly away from her. "Anna," he said roughly, his hand still on her cheek and the other holding her hands.  
"Good night, Bruce," she said, pulling away from him, feeling his hands release her, which caused her more eruptions of emotions than his kiss provided.  
Bruce's hands fell limply to his sides. "Good night," he managed to say.

Luke had fallen asleep beneath the table but Anna left the kitchen on her own, finding the main flight of stairs and made her way up to her bedroom, her fingers gliding along the wall of the hallway she'd come to know as she counted the rooms until she reached number four, her bedroom.  
Bruce sat back down at the table, his fingers going through his hair as he tried to think about what had just happened. It was all kind of a blur even though it'd just taken place seconds before and he could still hear her footsteps on the floor outside the room.

Anna remembered she was still wearing Bruce's jacket as she entered her bedroom without turning on the lights. It never was a habit to her after all as awkward as it would seem to anyone else. She found the edge of her bed in the middle of the room and sat down on it, breathing out, in and out. Her face was warm but she smiled subtly at the dark. She got to her feet again and began to unbutton the jacket but stopped dead.  
The room was larger than what she was used to, which must have been why the feeling was delayed when it struck her. Someone else was with her.


	12. Chapter 12 Hiding in Shadow

Chapter 12 – Hiding in Shadow

"Bruce?" she turned around on the spot, the undeniable sensation gripping at her chest and stomach. "Bruce, are you here? I didn't hear you come up –"

He rushed in from just beside the window and clapped his hand over her mouth, his other arm wrapped around her middle. Anna screamed but the sound was muffled too much by the beefy hand that held so firmly over her mouth. She started to squirm, kicking her legs as he dragged her towards the window. With tears in her eyes her brain jumpstarted and lesson number one went through her head in Bruce's words, _never let your fear take you over_.

Using all of her strength, Anna jabbed her elbow into the ribs of her attacker who grunted painfully and loosened his grip but not enough to let her go, yet. She landed her heeled shoe on the instep of his foot as hard as she could.  
She was freed and she ran as fast as she could with her arms outstretched in front of her as she yelled Bruce's name at the top of her lungs.

He didn't give up very easily or it could've been a different man for all she knew. Anna heard his steps coming again and turned, lashing out a kick in the direction of the scrambling footfalls. She made contact with something as she screamed again and another one took her head on. Three of them? She couldn't know for sure.  
Anna pushed her open hand upward and made harsh contact with his jaw then his nose as she kneed him in the groin. She heard something snap but didn't think to question whether it came from her or her attacker.

Luke's barks echoed madly through the house. The last one was groaning in pain but his hold on her was stronger than the last one. She kicked and screamed, beating on his chest.  
A growl entered the room and a hold came around her waist. Anna was ripped away from her attacker and flung from the fray, landing on her bed, safe and out of the way.

The fighting scuffle continued accompanied by the sharp scraping of Luke's claws on the hard floor as he growled and barked. Anna got to a sitting position on the bed when the noise settled.  
A weight came onto the mattress next to her, "Are you alright?" Bruce's voice was close, soft but heaving breaths in between his words.  
Anna felt for him and put her arms around him. "Yes," she said squeakily. "Are there more?"  
"I don't know. Let's go," he took her hand and pulled her off of the bed.

They ran out of the bedroom, Anna calling for Luke, down the main steps where Alfred met them in his dressing gown, awoken by Anna's screams. He volunteered to call the police as Bruce took Anna somewhere to hide until it was over.  
Anna held her skirt away from her feet so she could keep up with Bruce who dragged her to the back of the house and into a small room, through another door which he closed tightly behind them.

"Luke, come on," he said impatiently as he lead them onto some sort of platform or strange floor that rattled a little when she stepped on it. "Hold on," Bruce said as he put his arm firmly around her.  
Anna jumped and held onto him as they seemed to fall down, and down, and down. Luke whimpered until the lift stopped in a crashing halt. "Still need to get that fixed," Bruce muttered.

The air was freezing where they landed but Anna still could sense a space around her like they were indoors. But she could also hear the sound of rushing water nearby as Bruce led her out of the unstable lift and through what she believed was a corridor.  
Bruce walked quickly, his mind racing, his face flushed with anger. How dare they _try_ to get to her in his own home? He would set her down somewhere and then there would be hell to pay.

"Where are we?" she said.  
"The sublevel of the house," he spoke stiffly. "They won't be able to get to you in here." He turned the lights on as he walked.  
"I thought the gym was the sublevel," she said.  
"No, the gym isn't underground," he held onto her tightly as they went through room after room, passing the vehicles, the prototypes and into Bruce's personal work shop.

He led Anna into the darkness, stepping aside so Luke could get in and sat her down on a stool at a work bench. He turned on a lamp, revealing the uneasiness on his face as he squatted down in front of her.  
"Are you hurt?" he let go of her hand and saw a bruise forming along the width of her palm.  
Anna shook her head, "I'm alright. They just scared the hell out of me." Her hands shook as what just happened began to add up in her brain, "They found me here, Bruce. I've put you and Alfred in danger – "

Bruce pressed his fingers to her lips, "Anna, listen to me. Stay here with Luke. Do not move outside this room. I'm going to get some help, okay? Sit tight and I'll come back for you."  
She took a hold of his hand. "But Alfred already called the police," she protested.  
"The police might not be enough," Bruce had to choose his words carefully. "I'll be back, I promise." He kissed her on the forehead and she listened to him move quickly out of the room.

Luke took Bruce's place in front of her and rested his head on her lap. She pulled her comforter to her and held onto him. The only thing she heard for several minutes was the muffled sound of a rushing water fall somewhere close by.  
She was far too jittery to sit down and got to her feet, feeling the empty space with her hands held out as she walked until she met a wall. Anna moved along the wall with her hands until she found the doorway. Don't move outside the room.

--

Two more men climbed in through the window and fell onto the floor. The room was dark and the only sound was a chorus of groaning coming from somewhere on the hard floor. Jordan turned on his flashlight and sighed at the scene in front of him. Three of the men that met him there were on the floor, moaning in pain. Dale came in and uttered a curse under his breath as Jordan approached one of the babies and nudged him with his foot.

"The Bat?" he asked.  
The man looked up into the light of the flashlight, his lip bleeding and his head pounding. "No," he choked. "It was Wayne and…and the girl."  
"A blind woman beat you to hell?" Jordon nearly bellowed and kicked him. "All of you get up off of your asses and start looking! The cops will be here soon."

--

He readied himself quickly and stopped on his way back, seeing her just inside the doorway, the dog's head poked out scanning the rest of the place warily.  
Luke's head jerked up and he stared past Anna's skirt to the shadow that started moving towards them like a great black storm in the corridor. His eyes were steel and his hands were already balled into fists.

Anna stiffened as she heard him brush past she and Luke. A small touch of thick fabric moved across her hand that she held at her side. Luke barked happily, his tail wagging, his eyes never leaving the great shadow.  
"Hello?" Anna said uncertainly.

"Stay here," he said, ignoring her startled cursing. "Bruce is coming back for you." She recognized the voice as though she just heard it yesterday.  
"He called you," she said in a shaky voice.  
"Yes. Don't leave," he said firmly.

He walked past them and left her and the dog alone. Luke whined sadly as the Dark Knight moved out of sight.

--

They were still upstairs. He walked calmly up the steps to the second floor as though he had all the time in the world, the butler watching him go.  
The lights were on in her bedroom accompanied by scuffling, thrashing noises. They were searching. Half a dozen men were turning the bedroom upside down looking for something.

He would find out what it was, he didn't care who from. And then he would try _not_ to kill all of them.


	13. Chapter 13 Guardian in the Dark

Chapter 13 – Guardian in the Dark

The shadow stood silently in the doorway plain as daylight when one of them finally glanced up and cursed, which led them all to look at the doorway and freeze in their places. He would have found it quite comedic if he wasn't already pissed. But he smiled the smallest smile and flipped the light switch just inside the doorway.

"Oh, _shit_!" one of them yelled and the scrambling started.  
He charged into the room like a great black bull. A couple of them managed to run and fall out of the window. Landing on the ground from two stories up was apparently preferable to any confrontation with him.  
He was left with four to deal with. The first three knocked out in the first thirty seconds. They must have been the ones Bruce and the girl dealt with earlier. He allowed the last one to sort of roll across the bed, the darkness pressing on his eyes, and crawl toward the window.

The shadow blocked the light from the outside, grabbed at the man's shirt collar, and threw him dangerously to the floor. The man squirmed and yelled as though he were in the middle of a nightmare until he felt a hard pressure on his chest. A distant cracking came from the general area of his rib cage and he stopped his squirming and stared up into the darkness – a darkness that had a voice to match it.

"Are you a Claven?" it said in a voice that was made of fear and night terrors.  
He squeaked and nodded.  
"What were you looking for?" the voice was steady, not forceful, yet.

"The blind girl," the man choked from the pressure on his chest.  
"The girl doesn't know anything. What were you looking for?" the darkness spoke again, hinting impatience in his voice.

He saw a flash from the eyes of the dark and tried to keep from crying. "She has something, a pricey thing," he sniffed and tried to wipe his eyes. "No one told us what it was."  
The pressure strengthened until he could feel his own heart beating in his chest. He coughed and gasped for breath.

"The cops put up with liars more easily than I do," the voice was closer.  
"I swear I don't know what it is. She can't see so she might not know she has it."  
"Why?"

He whimpered as sweat ran from his cheeks and forehead into his hair. His hands were on the thick boot that was slowly collapsing his chest but he couldn't move it for the life of him. "We're supposed to look for it. If we didn't find it we have to take the girl because she'd know something," he screamed as more cracking echoed in his ears. "The guy who was supposed to deliver it was against joining the Falcones," he squealed and his voice raised in pitch by seven decibels. "He lost it on purpose."

Sirens broke the still night outside as the police approached the house.  
The darkness didn't speak any further and kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold and disappeared from the room.

--

Her face twitched to the doorway along with Luke when they heard footsteps. Luke barked and wagged his tail again.  
"Are you alright, my dear?" said a kind voice from the front of the room.  
"Alfred!" Anna said hysterically and hugged the old man tightly to her and tried to keep from crying.

"It's alright sweetheart, you're alright," he said consolingly, patting her on the back and silently thanking every god that ever existed that she was unharmed.  
"Is he still here?" she said, pulling away from him and wiping her eyes. "Did you see him?"

"Yes I have. He's taken care of them my dear and is checking the rest of the house now. The police are getting here as well. Come now, let's get you out of this cold air," he took her by the hand and brought her back out into the main corridor of the sublevel.  
Alfred nodded to the shadow who was waiting patiently for her to be moved.

"Where's Bruce? He said he'd come back – "Anna's voice was worried.  
"He's um – " Alfred glanced at it then back to Anna. "He's outside, meeting with the police when the come."

The shadow's shoulders slumped a little and rolled its eyes but kept silent. Luke followed Alfred and Anna out but barked and jumped up at the shadow as he began to follow it back down the corridor.  
Anna felt a quick rush of air as they passed each other. There was something familiar about it but it was gone so fast. Luke, however, seemed to be following it. She called to him but he wouldn't come until the shadow entered another room.  
"What was that?" Anna asked Alfred who stared at her blankly for a moment.

--

Most of them were in tuxedos still when the pulled into the drive at the Wayne house. Bruce ran up from the back of the house as fast as he could, cursing at his own stupidity for wanting to see her and Luke for making so much noise the entire way and met Captain Gordon. He tried catching his breath before attempting to speak.

"Is everyone okay?" Gordon asked as Bruce staggered up to him.  
"They came after her again but Batman must've been tailing them already. He was here within minutes. There are a few guys still unconscious upstairs."

Gordon nodded and sent a few men into the house to search. "Still no idea what they're after, huh?"  
Bruce shook his head, still trying to control his breathing when he looked to the front steps. Alfred led Anna down, still wearing Bruce's jacket and her hands shaking. The sirens, the sound of the radios crackling along with the chatter of the officers wasn't helping matters. She looked confused.

"We'll make sure the place is secure and locked up tight for the night before we go," Gordon said. "Do you want a guard or anything?"  
"No, I don't think they'll try coming back in the same night," Bruce said. He noticed Sergeant Bagel standing next to one of the squad cars that had pulled up.  
Gordon nodded, satisfied and answered a call on his radio.

Bruce met up with Anna at the bottom of the steps. She tackled him with a hug and then finally lost what was left of her self control. She sobbed on his shoulder, mumbling incomprehensible sentences with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.  
She was dead tired otherwise Bruce knew she wouldn't be acting as hysterical. The night was not yet over for him but he would take care of her first. There was no question.

He held her snugly to him and let her cry on the front drive until she started swatting at him for disappearing like he did. She didn't know where he was, if he was alive or dead. Bruce allowed her to take out her frustration and fear on him for a few seconds before he grabbed her by her wrists to stop her flailing and put his arm around her. She was absolutely exhausted.

Alfred accompanied them back inside the house as the police did their last check of the grounds and the perimeter of the mansion. Bruce led her back upstairs and put her in his old bedroom as the one for her was currently a mess that would be dealt with in the morning.

Alfred located some clothes she could sleep in and she changed while the two men waited outside the bedroom door. It was difficult to convince her to stay in the room by herself but she wouldn't change in front of them either. They compromised by promising to be just outside the door until she finished.  
"Go on to bed, Alfred. You look beat," Bruce said, pursing his lips and widening his eyes to keep the tiredness at bay.  
"I might say the same for you sir," Alfred said.

"Bruce, are you there?" Anna's voice came from inside the bedroom.  
Bruce tapped on the door, "Yeah, Anna. Stop your worrying or I'll come in there no matter what you look like."  
"That's not funny," she called back.  
Bruce looked at his feet in attempt to hold back a smile. "No," he said quietly to Alfred. "I've got something to do first."

The door opened and Anna's hands shot out, immediately feeling for someone. Bruce caught one of her hands and she relaxed a little. She was wearing one of his old Princeton t-shirts and a pair of old grey sweatpants. She made the sloppy outfit look much better than Bruce believed he ever could.  
"Are you feeling alright?" Bruce asked.  
"I'd feel better if Batman was available to stand guard outside my bedroom door but I'll be okay."

Bruce and Alfred exchanged glances, "Sounds like you've changed your mind about him."  
Anna shuddered, "Whoever he is, he's a good man. He scares the life out of me even though he's now saved it twice."  
"You don't have to keep score," Bruce said.  
Anna shrugged but said nothing.

"Look, I'll stay with you for a while if you want me to," Bruce said, ignoring the warning look from Alfred.  
Anna on the other hand held an expression of great relief and breathed out. "You don't have to. I know you're tired too."  
"Don't give me that," Bruce said with a squeeze of her hand.

Alfred bade them good night as Bruce guided her to the bed and she lay down. It was smaller than the one in her assigned room but still comfortable. He saw the bruise on her hand in the light. It was purple and blue with a touch of pink. Bruce noticed the one with the bloody nose and the bruise forming on his chin when he'd come back up to the bedroom but he couldn't remember doing that to any of Claven's men when he'd been up there earlier.

He smiled and sat down next to her on the bed. "You put up a good fight this time," he said.  
"How do you know?" she bent her legs and moved over to give him more space next to her.  
Bruce took her bruised hand and put a little pressure on her palm with his thumb. Anna winced and took a breath through her teeth from the pain. "By the time I got there it looked like you were winning."

"Only because they weren't prepared for the helpless blind woman to fight back," she laughed openly.  
"But you did. You kicked ass, Anna," he said with a smile.  
"Thanks to you," she yawned. "I nearly didn't you know." She pulled on his hand and he lie down next to her. She rolled onto her side to give him room. "Fear is hard to control."  
"Yes it is," Bruce agreed.

They lay next to each other as quiet rushed into the room but Anna was still too on edge to go to sleep. Her eyes remained open a little and her breathing wasn't relaxed yet. Bruce's eyes stared up at the ceiling, wondering if he should keep her there after what had just happened.  
"Is this your bedroom?" she said, touching the bedside table next to her. She pulled off a baseball cap and turned it over in her hands until she figured out what it was.  
"Yeah," he said.

"Must've been fun for you as a little boy, running around this huge house."  
"I guess so,"  
Anna sighed, sensing him closing himself off to her again and decided to let it go for the time being.  
"They made it fun," Bruce mumbled. "He took so much care of everything."

"Your Dad?"  
"Yeah," he replied softly. His father had become a doctor not a business man because he cared so much for people in general and he worked hard to help them in any way he could.  
"I think he would've liked to have known you, Anna. You share the same sense of humor."  
"I'd like to know him too," she said.  
Bruce put his hand over hers in between them as another silence took over the room. He would stay until she fell asleep.

"How did he get here so fast?" Anna muttered after a little while.  
Bruce turned his head to look at her. Her eyes were barely open. "What?"  
"Batman. How did he get here as fast as he did?" she said.  
Bruce shrugged, "He must have been tracking them already."

Anna considered his suggestion for a moment. "Good thing he wasn't at the party after all." Her voice faded as she spoke and he watched her as she closed her eyes fully and her breathing steadied into a slow rhythm.  
Bruce stayed next to her for a few more minutes until he assured himself that she was asleep. He got off the bed as quietly as he could and covered her with a blanket. "He would've loved you," he said, bending down to kiss her cheek before he left her alone again.


	14. Chapter 14 Mixed Signals

Chapter 14 – Mixed Signals

He couldn't believe that Claven would be so stupid as to try and get to her _inside_ Wayne Manor. Bagel shook his head, taking another sip from the long neck as he drove home. All they did by that stupid, stupid move was agitate Batman further _and_ now Wayne. Both of whom he took to be very intelligent and very able to get what they wanted one way or another.

Bagel had just gotten off the phone with Jake Claven himself who had grilled him for thirty minutes. Yes, she did come to the party with Bruce Wayne. Yes, they found her at Wayne manor but that was it. Well, it was probably not the best idea because the Bat had interfered along with Wayne. No, he didn't think they should try going back again any time soon especially when the Bat knew what they were after. Give him some time and he'll try and find some things out.  
He had twenty four hours.

The car parked illegally across the street from the run down apartment building. Bagel jaywalked and got to the steps and to the porch of the building. He dug around for his keys as he got level with the front door but dropped them as his feet were ripped out from under him.  
A pull on his ankle yanked him upwards higher and higher above the street until he hit the roof. Bagel's stomach was still on the steps of the building as he climbed up onto the roof, huffing breaths, forcing his feet underneath him again. He staggered blindly as he tried reorienting himself but he nearly fell over the roof again as he saw the huge black thing that stood in front of him.

The shadow pulled him back and held the sergeant in place, his black hand wrapped around his throat. "What were they looking for?" it said, the eyes inches from his face.  
Bagel swayed as though he might faint but he swallowed hard, "I don't know."

The shadow's face closed in, "Don't lie to me," he said darkly.  
"They wanted the blind girl," Bagel choked, trying to keep his bladder under control.  
"Why?" the voice was utter blackness but soft, deadly.

"She has a piece of jewelry or something priceless. They want it back."  
"To give to the Falcones," the darkness said. "Then what?"  
"I don't know," Bagel's knees were giving out and bright, spotty flashes were jumping through his vision.

"Liar," the shadow held him there, the edge on his voice could cut through glass.  
"I swear, I don't! I'm only here in case they need someone on the inside. I saw the girl they were looking for at the party – " The shadow squeezed harder. He coughed and went silent.  
"Pass a message on to your boss. I will find it before he does and when I do I'll let Falcone deal with you and then, I will deal with him. It will be safer for you if you do what you're told."  
"Claven won't believe me," Bagel said truthfully.  
"I think he will,"

Bagel watched, horrified as the shadow lifted up a black fist and thrust it down onto Bagel's thigh. The cop screamed, overcome with the pain as he was pushed backward and lifted off of the roof again. He hang there, tears coming into his eyes, the hot salty smell of blood flooding his nostrils and saw the darkness come towards him once more.  
"Leave the girl alone or I won't be as forgiving next time,"

He let the line go and Bagel was in free fall all the way to the steps of his apartment building where he slowed just before hitting the ground and landed in a heap on top of his keys.  
Bagel grunted and moaned as he fingered the wound in his thigh. There was something stuck in it still, slippery with blood. It was sharp and metallic protruding about halfway from the skin.  
He yelled softly as he got to his feet and limped into the building and up to his apartment where he gingerly treated his injury and called his other boss.

--

The only noise he made was a soft swish of fabric coming from behind him as he slipped through the window. The lights turned on and Bruce removed his mask. The room was a shambles. It looked like they didn't leave anything unsearched. She didn't have it.

And what the hell was it anyway? Bruce ran a hand through his sweaty hair. Everyone in the city knew very well that the Falcones could easily get their hands on any piece of loot that came in or was on it's way out of town if they wanted it bad enough. Trading any type of 'pricey thing' as a sort of peace offering would be ludicrous and even if that were the case, why were they so hard up on getting it back? They could easily find something else to replace whatever it was and try again.

Bruce's tired brain continued repeating everything he knew over and over again in his head. The messenger kid didn't want to join with the Falcones and so he betrayed his own family as it were; Anna had something to do with the disappearance of this object but even she didn't know what; Batman scaring the hell out of Claven's men didn't seem to faze him. It certainly made his men nervous but something was forcing him to move past his fears into a dangerous territory.  
There were too many questions and too few answers. Bruce rubbed his eyes and turned off the lights. He strode down the corridor to his old bedroom and opened the door. The sliver of moonlight outside was coming faintly in through the window and shined softly on Anna's sleeping form on the bed.

She was on her side, breathing steadily. Bruce took off the black gloves as he stepped quietly towards the bed.  
"You're confusing as hell, you know that?" he whispered to her.  
Anna didn't respond and slept on.  
He brushed over her hair with his bruised hand. "I want you to know that I was scared tonight," Bruce muttered softly. "It was…unexpected. But I'll keep you safe – _he_ – he will keep you safe. Just give me time."

--

Both Bruce and Anna slept in late the next day. Alfred woke them both up in turn, taking a little longer with Master Wayne so he could get the latest information Bruce had gained from the night before. He made them make their way down to the kitchen for breakfast.

Luke followed Alfred into her bedroom and jumped on the bed, nuzzling her face until she sat up with a bewildered grin. Luke guided her out of the bedroom as Bruce was wandering into the hallway, still in his bare feet and pulling a shirt over his head.  
She still looked cute in his old shirt and sweats, even with her hair messed up like it was. Anna scratched her head, ruffling her hair even more as Luke followed her down the corridor and yipped at the sound of bare feet scuffing across the floor.

"Morning, Bruce," she said with a tired smile in his general direction.  
"How are you doing?" he said as he met up with her, bending down to scratch Luke's head.  
"Fine," she said stiffly. "Thanks for staying with me last night."  
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, "You're welcome."

There was something strange about her behavior and Bruce couldn't pinpoint what it was. Her smile was cold though she felt the same fluttering in her chest she felt when he touched her. Bruce sensed the tension in her. He believed he could have done so from a hundred yards away but he decided not to address it. It would come out soon enough if he knew her at all.  
They went downstairs together and into the kitchen for breakfast, sitting in a strange silence.

Sure enough, however as Bruce was beginning to lose his patience with her stony silence she began talking to him again. Bruce wasn't comfortable leaving Anna on her own after what had happened the night before which is why he decided to stay with her that day. They were walking together on the grounds, Luke running ahead of them, chasing any squirrel he could find.

Bruce had his hands in his pockets as they walked in silence. The morning was dragging by because of how quiet she'd been.  
Luke barked a short distance in front of them.  
"What does he see?" Anna asked.  
Bruce looked ahead of them, "Just a bird or a squirrel in a tree."

Anna nodded and lowered her head a little with a sigh, "You know, I've been thinking about it, Bruce and I probably should go. You and Alfred have been so great to me and I can never thank you enough. But it would be better if I left."  
Finally! Bruce stayed calm though he could see how stupid that decision was for miles and miles. "Where would you go?"  
"I have a cousin I grew up with who lives up state. She'll let me stay with her until this is over." Anna spoke plainly, with hardly any emotion but her hands were a little twitchy at her sides.

"You don't think they'd follow you there?" Bruce said. "You're worried about Alfred and me. What about your cousin?"  
"I just can't – I don't think I should be here anymore," she said lamely. "You can't keep me here. I'm – "  
"Try me," Bruce said before he could hold it back.

Anna stopped and did her best to face in his direction, looking angry, "So you're going to keep me here like a princess in a tower until when, Bruce? They already know I'm here. They will try and find me again – "  
"What makes you so sure?" Bruce stopped with her and spoke calmly though he felt like shaking her to get some logic in her head.  
"I – I don't know," Anna's anger was fading as quickly as it emerged.  
"I don't think they'll try again. Anna, I promise you that there's no safer place you can be than here." Bruce rested his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry about what I said."

"It's dangerous here," Anna said vaguely.  
"Dangerous?" Bruce said curiously.  
Anna pulled back from him and his hands slipped away from her, "I know you don't – I can't let – " she paused to collect her thoughts. "I'm sorry for what I did last night. I should've explained it to you."  
She called to Luke and he came obediently to her. Anna felt around the dog for his leash and allowed him to guide her down the path as Bruce stared after her for a few minutes.

The sound of the waterfall was near by and Anna stopped to listen but also heard long striding footsteps coming from behind. Bruce caught up with her but waited for her to speak first.  
"The waterfall goes into the sublevel of your house, doesn't it?" she said.  
Bruce confirmed it looking warily at her.

"Someone could probably get to the house from here, couldn't they?"  
Bruce shook his head, "Not unless they already knew – "  
"He did, didn't he?" her voice was level. "Batman didn't come from inside the house last night. I would've heard him. He had to have come in from here."  
Bruce closed his eyes and took a breath. He never believed she could figure it out so easily. But it was his stupid fault. He underestimated her because of her handicap. Just like those men who'd attacked her last night.

"You know him, Bruce. You have no know who he is otherwise how did he get here so fast? Why did he bring me here in the first place?"  
Bruce slowly opened his eyes as he raised his eyebrows. Well, she was right of course, he knew very well who Batman was. "Yes, I do know him. He is…he was a friend to my family before he became the Dark Knight."

Anna nodded but kept silent without appearing smug or satisfied in the slightest about what she'd discovered on her own.  
"Is that what it was? Is that what you were talking about before?" Bruce said trying not to sound relieved.  
"No," Anna said.  
"Are you still going to leave?" Bruce asked.  
"I have nowhere else to go," she said sadly.


	15. Chapter 15 Don't Be Afraid

Chapter 15 – Don't Be Afraid

Jake needed a better word than hate. There had to be a word. He searched his mind as he walked down a narrow corridor in the abandoned warehouse. Loathe. Yes, he loathed what he had to do – what he was doing right then. Every time he walked these corridors it felt like he was walking straight into hell. But also every time he managed to come back out of it again. However, there was always the first time he wouldn't be able to come out again.  
The bulbs in the ceiling flickered as he walked beneath them. The building was old and in disrepair. He much preferred his casino to this pit including the company that was in it compared to what this dilapidated warehouse contained within.

The smell was the first thing that hit him as he entered a dimly lit room with no windows and only one door – one way out. Jake glanced over to one of the side walls as he always did when he entered this room. That was where all the strong chemical smells came from. There was a wooden table in the corner laden with bottles and beakers along with mechanical equipment he didn't recognize.

"Hello, Jake-Boy," said a silky, toxic voice.  
Jake's eyes went from the side of the room to the far wall. The light was duller in that part of the room. He could barely see a small desk and a thin figure sitting behind it.  
Jake swallowed hard and moved to the desk, sitting down in front of it without being asked.

"Would you like some coffee?" the voice said.  
Jake Claven wouldn't touch anything that man offered with a ten foot pole much less drink anything he fixed for him. "No thanks."  
"Tea?"  
"No, sir," Jake said.  
"Juice? Beer? V8?" the voice grew higher in pitch and sounded amused.

"No sir. I'm fine," Jake tried to control his temper. He wasn't surprised by this track of farce hospitality. He had to go through it every time.  
"Oh, I forgot to offer water, but if you're sure…?"  
"Yes, I'm sure," Jake spoke heavily, grateful that they were getting through the insanity without much of a hitch this time.

The figure leaned back in his chair and turned on a lamp at the desk that revealed his face. It was a man, young, and remarkably handsome. It surprised Jake the first time he met the guy how his looks were only a cover for how twisted he was. He still had a hard time remembering that when he looked at him.

The young man held a hint of a smile on his full lips, "Tell me your good news."  
Jake learned early on that keeping the bad news from his recently acquired boss was incredibly stupid so he told him what he knew. They had located the girl and found out where she was staying, the Wayne's house. He sent a group of his men to get to her. They made it to her room apparently but she had fought them off long enough for Bruce Wayne himself to interfere and hide her.

They stayed to search her bedroom and came up with nothing. Then the bat showed up.  
His boss nodded his pretty head as though he'd been expecting that to happen, his face was incredibly serene as he listened to how horribly wrong his plans were going.

"So instead of telling me all of that you could've said simply that there is no good news, am I right, Jake-Boy?"  
Jake _loathed_ that nick name and swallowed it down yet again as he nodded his head in agreement.  
His boss got to his feet and folded his hands in front of him. "I do appreciate your telling me the truth. You could have easily lied and I wouldn't know it until probably tomorrow which would've given you ample time to start journeying to the next country." He paced across the room and back again as he considered the situation.

"I think it would be easier sir if you let my men find something else to offer the Falcones. I can't say that I'm too comfortable with the bat on our tail." Jake said, finding a little relief that his boss wasn't angry with him, yet.  
The large eyes locked sharply onto Jake but the expression didn't change. "Poor Jake. The Batman frightens you, doesn't he? It isn't surprising. He scares a lot of people. What's more, he has managed to become a psychologically fascinating nuisance." He lowered himself back into his chair and leaned on his desk as though he were in a doctor/patient consult. "What people, including yourself unfortunately, don't seem to understand is that he is still a man under that black cape." His voice dripped venom now. Jake had been waiting for this.

"Everyone has a weakness and in my research I've discovered that in most cases that weakness is _fear_; fear of dying, fear of losing someone or something, fear of pain but it's always a fear of something." His large eyes wandered up to the ceiling as though he were thinking. "What we need is something that makes the bat afraid. What was it that cop told you again?"  
Jake sat back in his chair, as far away from this psycho as possible without looking like he wanted to run away. He explained Bagel's phone call again as far as he could remember it.

"'Leave the girl alone'," the pretty lips said as he raised his dark eyebrows. "I wonder…" he paused for a long while as he considered.  
"Yes?" Jake said.  
"He seems more protective of this woman than everyone else he defends against us grossly misunderstood 'ruffians'," he chuckled at his own euphemism. "Find her again but this time – " he leaped up excitedly and ran over to the smelly table. He worked with his back turned for a minute and returned to his desk with a spray pump bottle. "I will help you out."

Jake took the bottle he offered and looked up at his boss, puzzled.  
"It isn't how I originally wanted to test it out but that can't be helped. We'll see how it works with her first." He smiled, a glitter in his eyes.  
"I don't think it's a good idea to go back there. You just said he's protecting her like a watch dog –"

The sparkle in the eyes left and the brow furrowed in anger. "You will go back to Wayne Manor and get her." his voice rose with every word until he reached a shriek. "You will find her and bring her back to me! And if you don't I will find someone who can take your place, Jake Claven." He was on his feet, his face contorted with anger.  
Jake had gotten to his feet as well and watched in horror as the anger melted away from the lovely face into the serene expression again. It was like magic, like horrible black magic, fast and unpredictable. "I do enjoy these little visits of ours, Jake-Boy. I rarely have company aside from those I have to...coax." his smile broadened at the word.

"If you use that, you should have no problems," he said with a nod of his dark head. "She will be yours to command."  
Jake took that as a dismissal though he had no idea how that could work, and started towards the door, the small bottle in his hand.

"Oh, Jake-Boy," the silky voice was back.  
Jake shuddered but turned around to the smiling mental case, "Don't be afraid."

--

Four days after their first attempt, Jordan and Dale were sent out in the middle of the evening on a mission. As crazy as it had sounded to them when Jake explained it, they agreed to go along with it and do their best.

The shadow watched with great interest as the two figures set out from the old office building into the last fading light of the setting sun. He glared down at them from the roof top of the building and watched them get into a car and pull into traffic. Not a soul had left that building for days. He had been watching. What were they up to now?  
No one else seemed to be leaving. He'd waited. He held the fabric of his cape in his hands allowed himself to fall. The air caught the ridged black fabric, allowing him to soar over the vehicle for a few blocks until he got to another roof top and watched them turn a corner. What were they up to?

Jake watched from the first floor window. The car drove off and just after it he could barely see the grey figure come from out of the sky and follow the two men.  
"Okay, let's go," a younger and eager voice said.  
"Hang on a minute, Seth," Jake kept his eyes on the sky until the large winged figure moved out of sight. "We have to make sure he's a good ways away from us before we move."

The man called Seth threw on a jacket over his t-shirt that unnecessarily yet artfully accentuated the upper half of his body. He was a large man with a smooth face and dark hair the same as Jake's. He watched impatiently as his boss continued staring out the window long after the bat had disappeared.  
Another five minutes passed before Jake turned to Seth, his face pale but his eyes determined, "Alright, let's go."

--

The piano was getting tiresome. It was difficult to find things to entertain herself lately. Anna found it surprising how much she depended on Bruce's company to keep her occupied. he had noticed Bruce's absence the past couple of days but didn't question it. She never knew what he got up to with his businesses and such and it didn't matter anyway. But it did worry her a little when he never came home at night and she didn't end up seeing him until the next morning.  
He was more tired lately too. After the invasion of Wayne Manor, he seemed fatigued. Though she was curious as anyone else would be she refused to press him about it. It seemed that he had enough on his mind anyway. Anna could sense it when he spoke to her.

She plunked at the keys half heartedly, hoping that Alfred would finish the tasks he said he had to do and come and talk to her. The more Bruce was gone the more lonesome she became and she couldn't help but think it was because of how forward she'd been with him that night. Or perhaps it was because she had figured out one of the secrets of this house. But why would that upset him?

The doorbell rang downstairs and she stopped playing for a moment as she heard Alfred's faint footsteps along with Luke's – he was beginning to get as attached to Alfred as he was to Anna these days - moving into the main entry way of the house. She began playing again.  
Alfred barely got a glance at the two strange men and was given no chance to ask how he could help them before the larger one of the two dressed all in black, placed a right hook hard against his head and knocked him silly. Alfred staggered backwards, still conscious but didn't have time to retaliate as the same man hit him hard in the head again, this time knocking him unconscious and to the floor.

Luke barked madly and jumped up at the taller man but was knocked off course with a blow by the larger one who'd pulled his pistol from the back of his pants and waited for the dog to come again. Luke growled loudly and moved to attack again but squeaked out a whimper as the gun was shot through the silencer on the barrel. Seth shot the dog again after it was down, the only sound from the gun was a soft high pitched charge when he fired it.

The piano was going upstairs. Jake and Seth didn't think of an alternative but to follow the sound, quietly running up the steps and locating the room. They stayed in the doorway for just a moment, surprised at what they saw.  
She was such a delicate looking thing. Her face was round and pretty with a shock of dark short dark hair that contrasted with her fair skin. She wore a baggy college t-shirt and some jeans. What amazed them even more was that she took no notice of them standing there.

A rustle of fabric sharply met her ears and she stopped playing, her face rising. "Alfred? Is that you? Are you finished?" Anna said with a smile as she got to her feet.  
There was no answer, no "yes, I'm right here sweetheart," that she normally heard from him. It was strange for him not to answer but she tried again. "Who was it at the door?"

Jake removed the small bottle from his pocket and stepped in, Seth leading the way at Jake's signal as Anna stepped around the piano bench. Seth stepped around her so he was now behind her but she wasn't so easily fooled. The footsteps were muffled, almost a whisper but they were there. Someone was there.  
"Hello? Who's there? Alfred?" she said, reaching her hands out as Jake approached her, the bottle at the ready.

Once he got in range of her face he pressed down on the bottle and sprayed three spurts of mist in quick succession at her nose and mouth. Anna breathed it in and coughed, breathing more in as she tried to get the foul smelling stuff out of her lungs. She doubled over for a moment as she regained her control and stood up straight again.

Jake stood in front of her, placing the bottle back in his pocket. Her face was remarkably blank and her arms were limp at her sides. "Do you know where you are?" he asked softly.  
"I'm in Wayne Manor," she said in a flat tone.

"Don't be afraid. If you come –"  
"I am not afraid," the same monotone came from her lips.  
"Right," Jake said uncertainly. "If you come with us I won't have to hurt you."  
"I will come with you," she stepped forward almost robot like and extended her hand. "I can't see."

Jake took her hand, shocked at how simple this was going to be and pulled her forward just for a test. She stepped towards him without any resistance. He then understood what his boss meant by his words. Seth looked more stunned than Jake did as he followed them out of the room and down the steps.  
They passed the unconscious butler and the bloody dog that lay near the still open doorway and led her out into the night sky.


	16. Chapter 16 Doctor's Medicine

Chapter 16 – Doctor's Medicine

The smelly stuff was wearing off. Anna coughed and gulped in a measure of the musty air. She winced at the pain in her head, probably a result from whatever it was that was sprayed in her face. She blinked and tried to get a hold of her surroundings.  
They had brought her indoors. Maybe she was still in the Wayne house but that would've been too good to be true to her. The air inside was stale, cold, and moist, nowhere like the Wayne house aside from the sublevel where Bruce had taken her that night. But even that wasn't right. The air in that place was cool and fresh smelling, nothing like here. It was a chemical smell.

Her feet only had socks on them just as they had when she had been sitting at the piano. Anna pressed her feet to the floor beneath her. It was hard as brick and cold, even coming through her socks. She coughed again and realized she was sitting down in a wooden chair. There was nothing binding her or holding her there but instinctively, she was afraid to move just yet.

An exhaling breath hissed softly in the room she was in. Her brain had been too foggy to alert her to the presence of at least one other person in the room but she felt it now. Anna stiffened in her chair and tried to keep from trembling. "Who's there?" she said sharply cutting the silence in the dull room.  
"There's nothing to fear, you pretty little thing," the voice was male, young, and seemingly kind. "I admit you are an interest to me in so many ways now that I can _see_ you. I hope my medicine didn't hurt you too badly."  
"Medicine?" Anna shook her head. It felt like her brain was sloshing around back and forth inside her fragile skull.

"It's a wonder isn't it? It dampens the commands from the cerebral cortex focusing on reasoning, individual thought and all of that higher brain function stuff." He waved his hand, excited to get to the interesting part. "I can command anyone to do my every bidding after they've taken a whiff basically."  
Anna's eyes widened as she understood that she'd come here under her own power. The panic worsened. "Where am I? What have you –"

"Now!" he said harshly, shocking Anna into stopping. "I believe I will be asking the questions."  
"Why not use more of that stuff?" a deeper male voice sounded from behind Anna. She twitched in her chair. "She'd probably tell the truth better."

"Because 'that stuff' is still in the final experimental stages. I don't know what effect it might have on other parts of the brain. It could do nasty things to her memory and then she'd be no good to me." The young man's voice that was once kind and pleasant turned sharp and piercing. "I beg you to consider the few thoughts you have three times in your head before you decide to voice them."  
The man with the deeper voice muttered something, Anna heard him shuffling his feet on the hard floor. Experimental stages? What had happened to her? Where were Bruce and Alfred? Another tremor shot up and down her spine, creating goose bumps along her arms.

"Now my dear," the smooth, slick tone of voice the young man used was back on his lips. It gave Anna a chill with every word he spoke, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. "I don't mean to be rude. I probably should introduce myself. My name is Dr. Crane."  
"Anna," she squeaked. The name rang a bell in her head but she couldn't think of why or where she'd heard it before.  
"You have caused me a great deal of problems, Anna," Crane spoke gently out of his full, pretty lips.

"I haven't done anything," Anna said, gaining a bit of the strength in her voice back.  
"Of course not," Crane's voice softened into a caress. She could feel him close to her but he didn't touch her. "You haven't done anything wrong. But it would help me tremendously if you could tell me where my little parcel has gotten to." He brushed a finger up and down her arm from the sleeve of the baggy t-shirt she wore to her wrist and the palm of her hand.

Anna's hands were shaking. Oh God! They'd found her! They had taken her away from her only protection and she was theirs to do with as they pleased. Anna closed her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek.  
"You know what I'm talking about, don't you Anna?" the voice was very calm, even soothing but it terrified her more than anything she'd ever heard.  
Anna nodded and said nothing.  
"Good," Crane moved from her chair and leaned on the front of his desk, folding his hands neatly in front of him as he looked at her expectantly. "I haven't planned to hurt you Anna because I trust that you will tell me the truth."

Anna nodded again as her hope left her. Crane would never believe that she knew nothing so she stalled. In great and fantastic detail she described that evening where she had run into that strange man and then heard the gunshots shortly after. According to what Bruce had told her it must have been one messenger firing on another which was why the exchange was never made.  
Crane sighed and stared at the ceiling as Anna was deep into her description of how cold it was the night of those events. "This is not what I asked for." His voice sharpened a little and cut her off.

"I don't know where it is, I promise. I never did know." Anna's voice shook with every word but it was the truth which was all she could say.  
Dr. Crane glanced up at the man who stood behind Anna and cocked his head to the side as though he was considering something. "Anna, do you remember the outbreak in the Narrows, oh, maybe six, seven years ago now?"

"Yes," Anna said in a whisper. The water lines in nearly the entire city had evaporated into a horrible toxin that was spreading through the city. She remembered the screams from the streets, the howling, animal like noises. She had only gotten a small dose of whatever it was but she still had to get treated for it. The police swarmed the city, knocking on doors, going through office buildings and sticking needles into anyone that moved in order to bring the humanity back. The newspapers had dubbed it Fear Gas weeks after it had happened. That was precisely what it was. Anna's thoughts had never felt so dark and abnormally monstrous as they had that night. She still cringed at the thought of it.

"Fear drives so many people to do things – reduces us to our instincts, fight or flight." He was smiling as he spoke, Anna could tell. She also guessed that it wasn't a happy smile. "Now I can tell you one of the ways you interest me so. I'm _craving_ to know how my medicine would work on a blind person."  
Crane glanced up at the large man in the doorway and he understood. Anna felt a hard, unbreakable grip from behind that held her in the chair. She struggled but couldn't budge. The more she tried to twist away from him, the more he pressed her down in her seat until her spine felt like it was going to snap.

"I don't know anything, Dr. Crane. Please, I'm telling the truth, I don't know! Why would I lie?"  
"Oh, I believe you dear," Crane said simply as he slipped a patched and weathered looking piece of woven brown burlap over his head. "This is purely for my benefit."  
He sprayed a cloud of gas directly at her. Anna squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away from it but it was still going in through her nose and mouth as she breathed frantically.

He picked up her hand and pressed it to the mask on his face, "_Don't be afraid, Anna_," the voice was part of the mask. Anna screamed at the blackest, most evil sounding thing that met her ears. There was nothing she could compare it to. It was as though a demon from hell itself were speaking to her.

The texture of the mask crawled beneath her fingertips. She tried wrenching her hand away but he held it there. It turned slimy first, then rough and hot. Anna pulled, trying to keep her hand from being burned but his hold was stronger than she was. It was so hot!  
"_Where is it, Anna? Tell me where it is!_" the demon voice said to her face as the mask turned into a fire that stung and ripped at the nerves in her fingers. Then it was sharp razors, cutting at her hand and arm as it wriggled beneath her palm.  
Anna screamed, tears streaming down her face as she kicked her legs and tried to free herself of the weight on her shoulders and back. She yelled and cried incoherent gibberish but no one would hear.

--

It was a damned wild goose chase! He had followed them for thirty minutes halfway across town. They'd stopped at a fast food joint, drove around a little more and then wandered into a strip club.  
The shadow ground his teeth, his jaw clenching hard at his own blunder. They'd been a diversion and he had fallen for it right onto his face. But what were they diverting him from? He pushed the shudder of anxiety he felt aside as he made his way back to Wayne Manor.

Bruce, still in disguise ran into the main level of the house, his black cape flapping fiercely behind him. The house was quiet but that wasn't much of a surprise. Even with Anna living there it had been quiet for the majority of the day because of the size of it. But that was a different type of quiet. Bruce sensed a frightening quiet, a thick silence that you feel when you're outside on your own in the middle of a black night. He ran into the main entry way ready to move to the second floor but he soon saw that no further search was needed.

He cursed under his breath as he reached Alfred, lying sprawled on the floor, a bruise forming on his head and fresh blood on his lower lip. Bruce glanced to his left and looked mournfully at Luke's still frame lying in a puddle of deep crimson on the floor. The room smelled of the salty, metallic tang of blood that Bruce tried to ignore as he revived Alfred.  
The butler groaned and his pale blue eyes blinked open steadily until he was able to focus on the dark face that hovered over him. It looked strange, the worried eyes looking down at him from behind that intimidating mask.

It took a minute for Alfred to reorient himself and he sat up as Bruce supported him.  
"Where's Anna?" Bruce said without hesitation once he realized Alfred was coherent.  
"I don't know," Alfred said weakly. "I answered the door and – Oh, no they must have come for her again! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry – " Alfred moaned as he gingerly touched the bruise on the side of his head.

"Don't, Alfred." He got to his feet as Alfred turned and saw Luke's body lying on the floor.  
The poor man's lips parted in shock as he stare at the lifeless animal. "You've got to find her," he muttered. "They could've killed her by now."

"No, they haven't. There's something else going on, Alfred. This isn't over some piece of jewelry. I need to find whatever it is they're looking for first. They'll keep her alive until they're certain she's telling the truth."  
"But she doesn't know anything," Alfred said, trying to keep his voice calm.  
"I know. I've got to find it fast." Bruce said and started back towards the sublevel.

Alfred got unsteadily to his feet, too scared to find his voice again as he watched the shadow leave once more.


	17. Chapter 17 Boss Man

Chapter 17 – Boss Man

Logically, think logically. Bruce fell into the cab of the tumbler as the top slid shut on top of him. The engine revved to life and sped him away from the house and down the forest road. He beat himself proverbially over the head for being so careless and stupid. First of all he'd followed those men for too long. He should have _known_ they were a stupid decoy. Stupid, stupid!  
The shadow's eyes stared straight ahead, looking as though he wasn't seeing anything as he thought and tried to push his guilt aside. The object was never found, whatever it was. Sure enough the Claven's would have scoured the entire area within a three block radius to try and find it but evidently came up with nothing. If it wasn't an expensive looking thing as he suspected it wasn't, no one would have picked it up off the street. It would've laid there with the rest of the trash next to that seedy bar.

So, if it wasn't on the street still and nobody else had seen it since, Anna had to have it somewhere whether she realized it or not. It always came back to her and this time, he believed it. The shadow pressed down on the gas and sped through the city towards the north side.

Anna's apartment had been locked up inside and out. Everything was repaired and put back in its proper place. At least it looked that way from the fire escape window.  
The shadow jimmied the lock and slid the window open silently, pushing himself through the opening, landing in a crouch on the floor and trying not to think that every moment he spent, Anna was being pulled further away from him. He didn't want to think what they would do to her. But the very consideration drove his anger further and his pace faster.

There wasn't really a need for stealth here. He was only searching and speed was more important than silence. He started at her dresser drawers, going through every pocket and fold he could find in the clothing. It must feel light, and fit in the palm of the average person's hand if she hadn't taken notice of it yet.

The wooden coat rack stood right by the door, staring innocently back at him as he righted himself. It held a sweater, a black raincoat and a thick black wool coat for winter. The shadow tilted his head slightly as he observed it. There was no way it was that obvious. But that was always the brilliant solution, wasn't it? If you want something hidden, the most blatant and obvious spot is normally the best because in searching, a person normally looks in the least likely places first.  
The sweater had no pockets and it wasn't raining that day she was walking. The pockets in the black coat were deep. He reached to the bottom of the left one and heard a paper crackling at his touch. He wrapped his hand gently around the object and pulled it out. It fit in his hand easily and was about the size of a hockey puck.

He delicately unwrapped the blank brown paper and uncovered a shiny, black disk about a half an inch thick and four inches in diameter. It looked harmless enough. The shadow studied it further and saw faint grooves that lined across the surface of the disk, crossing each other like a pie graph. They were panels, panels that were meant to open.

He was right at least. It definitely wasn't a piece of jewelry and he would have bet his life that when given to the Falcone's this harmless looking thing wasn't meant for their good. This was no peace offering. That much he was certain of.  
There was nothing more to think on it. He'd found the mysterious object that only raised more questions afterwards. But those could wait. Anna could not. He carefully stowed the disk and pushed himself back out onto the fire escape, into the clear night.

--

There weren't very many at the office building nor the casino anymore. Most of the Clavens had been too curious about the girl when they found she'd been captured finally. They also were interested in confirming the rumor that Jake Claven was reporting to his own boss and in all actuality the fate of their precious faction rested in that man's hands. Whoever he was.

The entry was easy for him and the group he had to deal with was minimal. It would take about a minute. The two men who'd lead him around like a dog on a leash earlier were back there. He would do his best to keep from enjoying this.  
Surprise was all it took. A few tables were overturned and a deck of playing cards were flung about the room but all ended in silence in just about a minute as he'd predicted.

The shadow held poor Dale by the collar of his shirt. He'd already been wary about luring the Batman away from their target, knowing that he was out there somewhere spying in him and Jordan. But now that he was this close, Dale realized that he'd just soiled his last pair of clean pants.

Sweat trickled down Dale's forehead as he stared wide eyed at the horrible creature in front of him. Yes, he thought creature instead of man. The term seemed to fit better than the other.  
"Where is she!" it was most definitely not a question, not in that voice. It was a command.  
Dale's eyes darted around as he considered lying but each second he used to stall the hand around his throat tightened like a vice. He coughed a little, "I – I think they took her to the boss' place."

"What place?" the shadow pressed Dale against the wall.  
"I heard there's a different boss here, keeping our deal together instead of putting it with the Falcones. Jake kind of spilled it after they got the girl. Can't say that I'd complain of course." – he squeezed and Dale gagged – "it's a warehouse by the docks somewhere. He's kind of a loner from what I hear. Jake wanted us to meet over there later tonight."  
Dale blinked and the hold on his throat and neck was released. He closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet air and opened his eyes again. He stood alone in the room – well, alone aside from the few unconscious bodies that were strewn on the floor.

--

Her screams had turned to whimpers. The emotions and feelings were dull as though her body and mind were numbing themselves to any stimulation whatsoever. Anna still could feel the undeniable instinct that someone was in the room, waiting pounce upon her. And the voice just would not go away!

Dr. Crane pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, reconsidering the light dose he'd given her. The mask had been tossed to the floor. Yes, she was telling the truth but that enraged him. He couldn't believe any kind of operation could have been so sloppy.  
Anna had slid off of the chair and onto the cold concrete floor. Her body shook, not from the cold but from her mind itself. She couldn't shake the horrors she continued to witness. Her hands could feel the dead body on the floor in front of her. They felt frantically over it until she found the face of the nameless person and then it wasn't nameless. A warm sticky substance came from Bruce's lips. There was no air coming from his mouth and she knew he was dead.

A fresh scream burst from her and Crane glanced down to the floor. She was curled up on herself close to the wooden desk. If anything, his theory was proven. Fear Gas affects anyone who has proper brain function. Anna might not be seeing what she feared but she was definitely feeling them, which might even be worse. Crane noted the thought for future research.

More footsteps came from the corridor and Dr. Crane rolled his eyes. More of the lovely Claven's, of whom he was apparently the leader, had come to see the girl and most of all, see what the real plan was. There were about a dozen of them hanging around now, mostly outside the room. It was like Jake didn't care about his privacy anymore. That would have to be remedied.  
Speak of the devil. Jake strode into the room, glanced down at the girl and then back up to Crane, "Anything?"

"Oh yes, many things actually," Dr. Crane said simply. "Whether or not they'd be useful to you is another matter entirely."  
Jake's blood simmered at the impertinence of this scrawny smart ass, "Would you like me to tell you what _would_ be useful to me?"  
"Not really,"  
"I've put a heavy risk on you getting us what we wanted, getting us what you promised and I haven't seen a damned thing from you except for these bloody experiments and this horse ass talk!"

Anna squealed in response to his yelling but he ignored her.  
"This entire thing hasn't smelled right from the beginning – "  
"Well, maybe if you took a bath once in a while…"  
"And I'm going to stop it right now if you don't level with me, _doctor_."

Dr. Crane's peaceful expression slowly faded as Jake spoke. He slapped his hands hard on the desk. Anna whined at the loud noise and he kicked her in the face out of his unfocused rage as he stood up to his full height, which wasn't entirely impressive but he compensated for it with the enraged expression on his face. "You ignorant fool!" he bellowed.  
"I will _show_ you what I've planned for you," He stormed up to Jake and plunged his hand into Jake's jacket pocket, extracting the small spray bottle. The anger left quickly, just as it did before. Jake couldn't tell what he feared most from this man, the unbearable calm or the flailing fits of rage. It was all in the eyes. Jake could see it now as he looked into Dr. Crane's eyes, if he really was a doctor. There wasn't any levelness or stability as you normally see in an ordinary person.

"If you had a mind of your own you wouldn't be challenging me right now. But, we cannot go back, as some say," Dr. Crane's rage had ended quickly as though he'd forgotten about it.  
He waved the small bottle in front of Jake's nervous face, "You saw what this can do. Haven't you figured it out by now that I was planning to give you full power by using it on the Falcones? Imagine that, Jake-Boy! _That_ was the plan, that was the miracle alliance you wanted to happen," he laughed shrilly.

Anna moaned and covered her ears.  
Jake couldn't take anymore. He felt for the gun in his belt and pulled it out, pointing the barrel in between Crane's eyes. "You're out of your ever loving mind!"  
"Who told you?" Crane said with his mad, happy smile. "It doesn't bother me much."

"How would using that on them do a damned thing?" Jake said, his mouth twitching.  
"You certainly don't have much of an imagination, do you Jake-Boy?" Dr. Crane sighed. "I'll demonstrate."  
He lifted the bottle in a flash and sprayed the substance in Jake's face. Jake's arm dropped, still holding the gun, as he coughed and shook. The stuff reeked but it passed after a minute or two and Jake stood up straight, staring blankly at Dr. Crane.

The yelling had stopped and Anna's body had gone still on the cold floor.  
"Now, you good boy, Jake," Dr. Crane said to the staring Jake Claven. "Please take that gun and use it to get rid of yourself. I can barely stand it anymore."  
His face still blank, Jake lifted the pistol to his temple and with no hint of hesitation, he pulled the trigger.


	18. Chapter 18 Fool's Plans

Chapter 18 – Fool's Plans

He'd listened outside to make certain he had the right building. There was no mistaking that voice unfortunately. This made a little more and yet a little less sense now that the shadow knew who was behind everything. He now knew why Claven's men had been so frantic about finding the parcel and/or Anna. He now had an idea of the potential of the small disk he held on his person contained.

There was no one to greet him, which he found rather surprising and even a little rude that he wasn't expected. He kept his ear piece tuned to one of the more sensitive settings so he could keep track of what was going on the in floor below. The room he'd climbed into was small and bare. No one had occupied it for a long while but, as he had hoped it was directly above where the voices were coming from.  
There was no hint of a woman's voice. There were two men arguing. One of them had that unmistakable even haunting voice. All of the 'Jake-Boy's' must've referred to Jake Claven. They were fighting with each other, fighting for control. As he listened he found that he almost felt pity for Jake because of who he'd mistakenly included in his little clan.

The darkness knelt down on the floor and put his ear to it. Where was she? The argument continued below him along with some distant muttering he was picking up outside the room Crane and Jake were in.

_And I'm going to stop it right now if you don't level with me, doctor._ It was Jake talking.  
A loud thudding sound followed his words, like someone hitting something hard. A whimpering moan sounded directly after. It came from a woman, he was certain. Another thud, this one more muffled, softer sounding than the last one and the woman stopped.  
_You ignorant fool! I will show you what I've planned for you._ The madness in Crane's voice was becoming more and more evident the longer the argument went on.

No more waiting. The shadow continued listening as he set to work on the second floor of the warehouse.

--

He watched Jake's body collapse to the floor close to Anna. She'd gone very still but it wasn't a concern, yet. Dr. Crane observed the two bodies for a moment, his mind elsewhere.

Claven was such a moron, putting the only lead they had on this stupid, useless blind girl. A blind girl! How desperate could a person get? For the first time, Crane considered starting from scratch. The first capsule was lost, probably never to be found again. The thought pained him deeply. It was his baby after all, an invention of his own making. The potential and power of the stuff was remarkable and indomitable. There would be no anecdote for it this time. He would guarantee that. No one would be given the chance to make one.

A sharp clinking of metal came from above them. Crane and his gofer/body guard of sorts looked upwards.  
"Did you hear that?" his man said stupidly.

Crane sighed and didn't answer. The chatter from Claven's men outside made it difficult to hear. No one had tried to force an entry yet. They probably figured that Jake was the one who fired the gun. Crane groaned inwardly at the thought that he'd have to talk to them in a few minutes and tell them what was up.  
No other sound came from the floor above them and Crane looked to the door. With reluctance and a little disgust he walked over and opened it. The men stopped their talking immediately and looked at the not so impressive man who stood in front of them.

Crane opened his mouth but he wasn't able to get a word out. The crash was so loud that everyone was distracted and looked past him into the room.  
It looked like the ceiling had caved in but only at one spot. The rubble landed next to the wooden desk in the room and as the dust settled an audible intake of breath was heard from every man who could see what had followed the rubble through the now convenient hole in the ceiling. Crane's face broke into a smile as he saw the blackness rise to its full height and come towards him looking madder than hell. His face was entirely covered aside from his eyes. A sort of black gas mask covered his nose and mouth. He charged towards Crane, his eyes ablaze but was cut off by the larger man who'd stepped loyally in front of his boss.

The shadow landed a strong blow on his face, dead center, knocking him flat on his back. The body was kicked aside as he advanced further onto Crane. Claven's men were no help, slowly backing away in the corridor, making sure they kept a good distance between themselves and that raging storm.

Anna moaned quietly. She couldn't make out the sounds but in her already influenced mind she determined that they were not beneficial to her. Her body had lost most of its strength and whatever was going on seemed to be ignoring her so she decided to stay where she was for the moment.

Crane was yanked back into the room and hurled across it with no skill or plan, only anger and brute strength. His body smacked against the wall, bounced hard off of it and landed on the floor, close to Anna. Crane made a grab for Anna's ankle but was lifted off of his own power again and held in the air by his shirt and neck, his feet dangling off of the floor.

"Crane," the shadow muttered through his mask in disgust and hatred.  
"Now, that's not really my professional name anymore, is it my friend? You know who I am now."  
The only reaction he received to his remark was being thrown again, this time hitting the wall face first. He heard something snap in his face and tasted blood in his mouth as he landed on the floor again. He lay there and waited but nothing happened that time.

The fiery loathing in his eyes flickered as he turned to see the small dark head with fair skin that lay on the floor. Her eyes were closed and her body lay limply on the freezing cold floor.  
He crouched down to her. A bruise covered her right eye, purple and black and he pressed his lips together as he ground his teeth angrily. Anna's breaths were shallow, but she was breathing. Two of his fingers pressed on her neck. There was barely a pulse. He lifted her top half off of the floor and sat her up, cradling her in his arms. She was apparently awake enough reach out to the source of the gentle touch and put her arms loosely around him, but her eyes were still closed.

"Can you stand?" he whispered to her.  
Anna's face turned to where the sound had come from. The voice, the smell, and the hold on her were incredibly familiar but her head was too foggy and disoriented to make sense of anything but what he'd said. "Yes," she said, thinking that he needed her to do so.

He pulled his arms up and lifted his head off the floor, looking towards the two across the room, then to the crowd of men just outside the doorway, standing there and staring, unsure of what to do. Crane watched his theory being confirmed right before his eyes. The Bat was being _tender_ with her. His mind became fascinated with the strange relationship as the girl seemed take a deeper breath.

She clung to him as he lifted her up. The shadow could feel her shivering against him. She was freezing. He let his cape drape around her and held her firmly to him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, feeling only the strange hard material under the thick fabric that had her body partially covered.

The black eyes snapped up to the middle of the room at the sound of clicking metal. The silver barrel of a gun was trained on his face. Crane held the weapon steadily on him, his eyes confident again.  
"What do you fear?" His voice was low, almost hypnotic. When there was no answer he continued. "Do you know that what I was planning to do would have helped you in so many ways? But no! You have to stick your tiny little nose in and ruin everything."  
It was nonsense, all of it was absolute nonsense. The darkness reached behind him with his free hand.

"I've had a hard life, you know," Crane said. "And I was about to make it a hell of a lot easier – yours too, if you would've let me."  
"Is this what you're referring to?" the shadow spoke darkly as he lifted up the small black disk in his gloved hand.

Crane's eyes went round as soup cups and his lips parted slightly. "Well, clever you," he said, his voice dripping malevolence. "I could've rid the remainder of the Falcones from the face of this Earth for you and your police just by giving one command after they had a dose of my medicine."  
The shadow fingered the disk in his hand for a moment. "A mind control agent."

"Of sorts," Crane admitted. "This isn't my way, really," he said with a glance at the gun as he circled around the shadow and Anna towards the exit. "I've been told that I won't get any kind of result really if I use this on you." He made it to the door and took one step out, the men in the corridor made a path "But, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't do her a lot of good." The barrel switched its aim from the shadow to Anna's head. "You didn't answer me before. What do you fear?"

The shadow made no move against Crane as he backed out of the room with a grin.  
"Now," he said, stopping in the middle of the corridor. "You will return to me what is mine."


	19. Chapter 19 Saved

Chapter 19 - Saved

"Now," Crane said, stopping in the middle of the corridor. "You will return to me what is mine."

The shadow set his jaw, his eyes trained on the weapon that was aimed at Anna. He lifted his hand that held the disk. Dr. Crane held out his hand for it, the gun still trained on his target. The shadow raised his arm above his head and threw the disk to the floor with all of his strength.  
"NO!" Crane bellowed as he watched his precious medicine smash to the floor at his feet. It shattered, allowing the gas to flow upwards and envelop the corridor as Dr. Crane, in his panic, breathed it in.

He heard it crash but wasn't watching. He'd turned back inside the room right after throwing the disk scooping Anna up fully in his arms. He crouched to the floor with her, covering her mouth and nose with the thick fabric of his cape.  
Anna awoke a little more from the sudden movement and felt the tight grip over her face. Panic erupted in her body and she struggled against the hold on her but the more she struggled the tighter the hold was on her.

He hushed her and told her to wait as she smashed her fist into his thigh, the closest part of him she could reach from the position she was in. Anna cried in pain from the impact on the hard surface that covered his leg.  
"Keep still," the low voice said.

Anna cried but did as she was told and calmed down, which also allowed her to hear what was going on just outside the room.  
The gas had permeated through the corridor and into the room. Another hand went over her eyes as well. They all had breathed it in and were coughing and gagging on the disgusting smell until it dissipated.

"Stay here," the shadow said and released Anna.  
She listened to him get up and walk towards the doorway as she slumped weakly to the floor. Crane stood in the middle of the group of Claven's men. All of their faces were blank, and their bodies stood straight and all of them looked at the shadow as he came into view.

A command. They were waiting for orders. It would be so easy, so simple. With one order he could shut the door, take Anna home, and be rid of these people forever. He opened his mouth and took a breath but stopped himself. He glanced at Anna. She was leaning limply against the wall but her eyes were open.  
A shiver went up his spine. Anna seemed to be looking directly at him though he knew she couldn't see him, her eyes looked as though they were focused on him. The brightness was gone but the life behind them was still there and he could feel it from her.

His fists clenched and he turned back to the expectant group that still stared at him. "Wait here for the police and do as they say. You will never bother this woman again," he muttered and swept back into the room.  
The men stood there obediently awaiting their fate as the shadow took up Anna in his arms and pushed his way through the corridor. He felt her body go limp once again as he ran out into the street.

"Anna?" he said normally. "Anna, can you hear me?"  
The air was rushing over her and she sighed because the sounds were gone and someone was speaking to her in a voice she knew. She tried to answer but could only hold onto him as a sign.

Her body dropped softly into a seat in an enclosed space and someone sat down next to her. The top of the tumbler slid down over the two of them and the engine started. Anna felt the enclosed space around her and curled up in the seat. "Please, please, please," she whispered in a choked voice. "Please just kill me or let me go home."  
Bruce looked over at her with softened eyes and took a hold of her hand as he always had done. "I'm taking you home," he said.

_--_

_The alleged toxin scare throughout Gotham has been revealed as a hoax and citizens are breathing grateful sighs of relief.  
__According to Gotham police the scare originated from the arrest of Doctor Johnathan Crane, a once credited and accomplished psychologist and the man responsible for the release of the toxin known as Fear Gas throughout the city six years ago.  
__Crane was found along with over a dozen men who all confessed to city officials to being involved with the Claven faction – a known and wanted group of gangsters of what seems to be the now shrinking Gotham underground. Laurence has the full story. Laurence?_

_Thank you Stacy. The arrests of Dr. Crane and the Claven gangsters is mystifying police. According to Captain Gordon, the officer who received the tip that lead to the arrests, the suspects gave themselves up willingly and peacefully to police, providing their own confession of kidnapping, murder, and at least a dozen other crimes…_

Her head was pounding. Wait. It had been pounding before and it was the memory of it that was confusing her. Anna felt warm and comfortable, vaguely hearing the quiet news report on the television. Television?  
No matter how much she tried, she couldn't sort out the memories of the past…she didn't even know how much time had passed. After another minute she gave up and allowed herself to sink further into the heavenly mattress.

But there was no more pain and her head was clear, only drowsy. She turned over. The television volume was lowered a little but she'd already heard the name and at the same time she felt a strange type of crinkling fabric over part of her face. Her nimble, curious fingers automatically found the fabric and traced over it until she realized what it was.  
Something must have hurt her. The bandage covered her eyebrow and cheekbone. The name was said again. Crane. But he wasn't here. There was someone here with her but she knew for certain that it wasn't Crane. His presence was…distinctive as far as she could remember.

"Crane," she repeated the word under her breath and Bruce looked down at her. Her good eye was blinking to life and her hand was studying the bandage on her face.  
"Hey," he said, grateful that she sounded like herself again. "Welcome back."  
"Bruce," her voice was a little louder but sounded rough when she spoke. "Why are you here?" She found his hand and held it with a surprising and unrelenting will as though she were afraid he wasn't real.

"You asked me to stay," he said. "Do you remember?"  
Anna felt around with her other hand. She was on one side of a large bed. She felt in front of her and touched Bruce's pant leg. He was sitting up in the bed, wearing simple slacks and a button down shirt, the remote control still in his hand.  
"No," she answered back. "Where are we?"  
"We're home," he said.

"Home?" Anna started to sit up and couldn't decide whether it was a wise maneuver or not to do so.  
Bruce helped her along and propped a pillow behind her against the headboard as she tried to regain her surroundings. The smell was real, there was no imagining or hallucinating that. Bruce really was there and they were no longer in that horrid room.

"You mean we're at your house," she said, confirming the smell and the sounds.  
"Well, yes," Bruce agreed and tossed the remote on the mattress as he looked her over.  
She still looked too pale but was much better than when he'd found her. The bruising over her eye was healing nicely and the drugs in her system had worn off as she slept.

"There isn't a T.V. in the room I was in, was there?" she said.  
"Nope, we're in my room," he said with a shrug.  
She gave him one of her sarcastic looks without having to actually look at him. "And _I_ asked _you_ to stay?" she confirmed.

"You needed to recover and this is one of the most comfortable beds in the house. Trust me, I've taken turns sleeping in them all at one time or another just to test them out," he said jokingly.  
"But you stayed," she said.

Bruce sighed and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "Yes, I did. You were in bad shape at first. Why wouldn't I?"  
"What happened?"

Bruce dove into the story beginning with the break in and the chemical control agent Jake had used on her. Then he went into what he believed happened. They questioned her and tried the Fear Gas on her. Bruce silently thanked the powers that be yet again for the small dose Anna had taken in because otherwise he'd probably be sitting there alone.  
But then, in the nick of time Batman showed up and blew everything out of the water, saving Anna and bringing her back home.

Anna combed her fingers through her disheveled hair. "Oh! I remember, now. I remember him being there. It was different though. I can't remember exactly but for some reason I didn't believe it was him at first. I don't know. It's weird." She leaned back against the pillow, her body relaxing again. "It's all slipping away, like a dream."

Bruce chewed on his tongue and kept silent, locking his eyes back on the television screen. The news station was showing video of the arrests. By the time the police had gotten there someone had tipped he press and they arrived as the officers were bringing them out. Bruce smiled as he saw no sign of Sergeant Bagel on the video.  
"So they're in jail now?" Anna said, also listening to the news.  
"For a long time, hopefully," Bruce leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

They continued watching – well, Bruce watched, Anna listened – unable to think of anything else to occupy them for the moment. The danger was gone, just like that, Anna was free. She folded her arms in her lap and crossed her legs as she listened to the news report and Bruce's steady breathing beside her. Something was missing though.

"Where's Alfred?" she said.  
"He said he had some errands to run or something," Bruce said shortly.  
"Did he take Luke with him?" she said after a short pause. It was odd that the dog hadn't been here when she woke.

Bruce pursed his lips, thinking he'd been prepared to tell her and then quickly realizing that he wasn't. Alfred had buried Luke in one of the back gardens, next to the path that Anna liked to walk on. Poor Luke was already laid to rest in the earth before she was returned safely back home.

"No, he didn't take him with him," he said.  
"Is he outside?" Anna asked, sliding off the bed and getting to her feet.  
"Anna," Bruce swung his legs off the bed and headed her off before she could go anywhere. "I'm sorry," he took her hands in his. "But there's something else in that story I left out that you need to know."


	20. Chapter 20 Shadow and the Soul

Chapter 20 – Shadow and the Soul

She cried for longer than he'd expected and blamed herself. Poor Anna was still traumatized and exhausted by her experience but refused to go back to bed. First she became angry when Bruce stood in front of her and told her as he attempted to prepare himself for whatever reaction he might receive from her.  
Anna swatted at his arms though she wasn't angry with him. They both knew it. She was angry with herself. It was because of her Luke had died and Alfred had been hurt. But Bruce took a few of the hits before they became a little painful, stinging at his skin, and pinned her arms to her sides.

He explained that Luke had died doing what he was meant to do. "He was doing his job. He was protecting you just as Alfred or I would have done," Bruce said.  
She broke down then. Her hands didn't raise against him again but stayed at her sides as she seemed to dissolve into tears. Luke had only been part of her life for such a short time but she'd loved him in that time. Nothing had ever expressed such loyalty and devotion to her in her entire life.

Bruce released her arms and made no move for a moment as he watched her stand in front of him and cry. It seemed that was all she could think to do. He took her by her shoulders and pulled her to him, allowing her to cry, her tears staining her cheeks and his shirt as she sobbed.  
It crashed harder upon her as he wrapped his arms around her and held her, allowing her to cry it out. Bruce was surprised at how her reactions had affected his feelings as well. A sharp pain and sinking feeling in his stomach took him over as he held her. It was a hollow, unexpectedly empty feeling that was familiar to him but he'd trained himself to ignore until now.

Anna calmed down after a little while as Bruce handed her the box of tissues that was on his dresser so she could wipe her face. She put a hand to his chest, feeling the damp spot on his shirt and began to dab at it with a clean tissue until he chuckled.  
"I'm just – I can't believe he's gone but I'm just so glad it didn't happen to you or Alfred – that you're both still here with me." She said sloppily.

Bruce took her by the hand and led her out to the grounds. She was happy to breathe the fresh air again. The wind was cold and bit a little at them. Autumn was definitely evident in the air now. It smelled like rain, damp and sweet. He brought her around to the back gardens on the path they normally walked together and to the mound of freshly dug soil that lay in front of the dozens of now dormant rose bushes by one of the stone walls.

He guided her to the ground and placed her hands on the earth, telling her what it was. Anna's shoulders hunched and her head bowed. She clasped her dirty hands in her lap and closed her eyes as though she were saying a silent prayer.  
A minute passed by in silence until she lifted her head again and got back to her feet.

"Thank you so much, Bruce. You and Alfred both have been so good, taking care of me and protecting me. I owe you my life. You once and Batman three times over I guess." She said with a laugh.  
That's four lives she owes me, Bruce thought amusedly to himself.

"But," she said hesitantly. "There's no danger anymore so there's no reason for my being here."  
"Are you sure?" Bruce cut himself off, snipping his voice on the last word but the question was already out. One thing he knew she was solely responsible for was for him losing control like that at times. He'd noticed it before but it didn't start happening until they'd gotten better acquainted with each other.

Anna nodded, not taking notice of his strange tone of voice, "I'm pretty sure. I've more than overstayed my welcome."  
Another thing was about to burst from Bruce's mouth but he held it back and reorganized his thoughts, "I don't think you should be alone, Anna."  
"I won't be. I'm going to stay with my cousin for a while. She and I are pretty good friends and I'm thinking her husband won't mind…very much." She said uncertainly as they walked back to the house. "He's very nice but he's kind of the possessive type."

Bruce felt an overwhelming sense of confusion come over him that made him miss the humor in her voice. She was absolutely right of course. His job was done. He said he'd protect her and he did just that. Now it was time that Anna Kingston went back to her life – without him. It didn't seem right and he couldn't get a handle on why that was.  
"Well, I'm glad she'll be there for you." Was all he could say to express himself.

Anna slept more that afternoon. Alfred went up to check on her and to see if she wanted anything for lunch, but seeing that she was asleep, he let her be and decided to prepare something for his master.  
It had been two days since Master Wayne had brought her back home. The relief he felt was unimaginable and was closer to nearly killing him than the anxiety that had come over him when he'd realized she'd been taken.

At any rate, things had returned to normal – well, as normal as they could be considering who lived in the Wayne household. Normal. It was just that as far as Alfred was concerned. Anna wasn't a guest to him anymore apparently, which made it that much harder when he learned that she would be leaving soon.

Alfred brought Bruce's lunch down, down, down to him in the sublevel of the house. The lights were on in the equipment room and he found his young master sitting at a make shift work table, his back towards him as he tinkered on something when Alfred approached him.  
He set the tray down and stood next to Bruce who didn't look up to acknowledge his presence at all. He continued working on what looked like another experimental gadget of some sort. The purpose of which baffled Alfred for the moment.  
Bruce refused to speak with a surprising will which left the two men staring at the odd piece of black equipment as Bruce seemed to be attempting to reassemble it.

"Miss Anna is resting again but she's doing well," Alfred finally spoke up.  
"Good," said Bruce shortly, nodding his head.  
"She asked me to help her contact that cousin of hers who lives about thirty five miles north of the city. Is that acceptable to you, sir?"  
"Whatever she wants is okay, Alfred," Bruce said gruffly, still without a glance anywhere but the work table.

"Do you think that's wise?" Alfred pressed on.  
"She has a right to go, Alfred. This isn't a prison," Bruce said with a hint of impatience in his voice.  
"I'm aware of that sir. I was only curious if there was anything else to keep her here," Alfred spoke cautiously and slowly but made his point.

Bruce stopped his tinkering and lifted his head, turning to his friend. His fingers were dark and greasy up to the middle knuckles but he didn't take notice as he folded them in his lap, giving Alfred a tight lipped smile. "You can't be subtle with me anymore, Alfred. I've known you too long and I can guess what you're implying. But I've let her get too close already. This isn't a fairy tale. This isn't a castle and she's not some princess that needs rescuing. She'll be grateful then she'll move on. It's just as well."  
"It may not be a perfect or even preferable situation, but forgive me sir if I say that you are mistaken," Alfred said certainly.

"I'm willing to live with that, Alfred," Bruce said, turning back to his work.  
"You already live with too much you know," he replied, looking down at his hands. "It may be a good change if you _allow_ someone to help you live with all of that." He sighed and patted his young friend on the shoulder. "Don't let your soup get cold, sir," he said gently as he stepped away from the work table and out of the room.

--

The day of Anna's departure from Wayne manor was as any other day. The sky was a cloudy grey that seemed keep all of the cold air close to the ground, frosting the damp grass and the leaves on the trees.  
Alfred had helped Anna with her arrangements in contacting her cousin, Corrine, and scheduling a taxi to pick her up at the Wayne house.

Bruce was nowhere to be found that morning after breakfast and after Alfred had rechecked Anna's suit case at her request to make certain nothing was forgotten. He was still such a difficult man to decipher and this not showing up when she was supposed to leave was even more frustrating.

Anna decided that she'd hate him forever if he didn't say goodbye. That's all she wanted, one last word from his voice; one last feeling that he was close to her. It was typical, extremely typical – like one of those cheap paperback romance stories: Poor blind girl falls in love with handsome billionaire playboy. But she didn't believe the playboy part of his story. Not anymore.  
It was difficult to believe when she would hear about him and his social escapades on the news and now that she knew him on a more personal level it was impossible to believe. He definitely wasn't the type most certainly and a lot of those stories Anna had heard about wouldn't have fit in a schedule like Bruce Wayne's.

Thunder rumbled outside in the early afternoon as Alfred helped Anna downstairs with her suit case. Her trusty wooden cane tapped gently down the steps as she moved it back and forth in front of her until the reached the landing.  
"It should be here in a few minutes," Alfred said, checking his watch. "I've made you a little lunch for the trip but if you're hungry now I could – "  
Anna smiled as she chuckled, "What will I do without you?"

Alfred stopped and saw the moisture in her eyes as she smiled. "I had the very same question." He leaned her suitcase up against the base of the stair case and took her hand. "I'm not looking forward to how dull this house will be without you in it," he said wistfully. "Just a large museum as it always was, I suppose."  
"I thought you loved this house, Alfred," Anna laughed. "All of the Wayne history and everything."  
"I do, of course but you've added a lot more to it over this short time, my dear, more than you realize."  
A small tear rolled down her cheek and Alfred brushed it away, "None of that now or you'll get me started."

A car horn honked from the outside. The cab had arrived for her.  
Alfred held her hand and carried her suitcase outside and down the stone steps to the drive where the taxi waited. They walked slowly together, reluctantly as Anna breathed in the air and made a memory of all of the smells she associated with this secretive palace she'd stayed in for such a short time.

Foot falls echoed down the steps from the front door of the house. Alfred glanced over his shoulder and quit his silent mental bashing of Bruce's personality when he saw none other than Master Wayne himself rushing down the steps after them.  
Anna heard the noise as well and stopped with Alfred, her expression puzzled.

"I can take that Alfred," Bruce said as he caught his breath and took Anna's suitcase out of Alfred's hand. "Don't you have something in the kitchen…that's um…on fire or something?" he said lamely as Alfred smiled and nodded.  
"Yes, of course, sir," he placed Anna's hand on Bruce's arm and made his way back up the steps.

Anna's smile could not be contained even though moments before she'd been thinking about killing this very same man who had finally decided to show up. "It's about time," she tried to sound annoyed but her smile made it difficult.  
"I know it," Bruce said as they walked the rest of the way to the drive.  
"I didn't think you were going to show up at all," she said, still sounding happier than she wanted to.  
"I wasn't sure myself," he confessed.  
"Why?" the smile was nearly gone from the tone of his voice.

Bruce paid the driver who took the one suitcase and tossed it into the trunk and sauntered his way back into the driver's seat.  
Bruce looked down at Anna whose expression he couldn't read at the moment. But he pursed his lips and focused his eyes on her in a way that if she'd seen his expression it would've made her feel extremely self conscious. But her face remained calm though still slightly confused.

"I've decided that I don't want to say goodbye to you," he said deeply in his throat.  
"Alright," Anna said slowly. "So what's the plan?"

"I don't want to say goodbye to you without –" he paused as he tried to organize what he wanted to say in his head. There were too many bits and pieces he was trying to pull together all at once. "Anna, I just wanted to say before you go that I'm really glad you came here no matter what the circumstances,"  
Anna let out a loud laugh, "Yeah, we had fun didn't we? What with the attempted kidnapping and then the actual kidnapping and – "

Bruce put his fingers over her lips, "That's not exactly what I meant. I wanted to tell you some things before but I didn't believe I had the right or the ability to say them. I know you have to leave. It's probably better for you if you do. But…I'm going to miss you, so much, Anna. You have to believe that." He leaned down and kissed her softly with no resistance this time. "I hope can understand what I'm trying to say. I'm not the best at expressing myself." He said after they broke apart.

"I know," she said with a smile and flushed cheeks. "I know and I do understand, Bruce." she said quietly so only he could hear. "You are more important to me than you know." She reached up, finding his neck and cheek. She cupped his face with the palm of her hand and stood on her toes, "You will always be my Knight," she whispered in his ear and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I left you a little parting gift on your dresser. Alfred helped me put it together," she held his hand in her own and squeezed it as Bruce opened the car door for her. She sat down in the back seat but didn't let go of his hand. "I hope he knows that I'm so grateful to him though he doesn't ask for any thanks," her eyes sparkled a little as she spoke and Bruce frowned a little.  
"I'm sure he does," Bruce said oddly.  
Anna nodded satisfactorily as Bruce shut the door. He stood on the first step of the house as he watched the taxi drive out of sight carrying one of the most remarkable women he'd ever met sitting in the back seat. After the cab had disappeared he ran back up the stairs and into the house, up the next flight up stairs and onto the second floor.

The lights came on in his bedroom and on the dresser was a small leather bound book. Bruce looked at the spine which read _Timeless Poems_. His brow knitted as he opened it and the book fell open to a marked page. A sonnet by Pablo Neruda.

Bruce's eyes skimmed over the page. In the first stanza a portion of the poem was underlined by what looked like a shaky hand. There was no note, no writing in the margins or anything else. Bruce's frown became more pronounced until he read the first stanza.  
_I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz  
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.  
I love you as __certain dark things__ are to be loved,  
__in secret, between the shadow and the soul__._

"Certain dark things," he muttered. Bruce's expression remained unchanged as he read over the lines again and then the entire poem. It took a few seconds longer for his brain to come to any conclusion.  
He looked up from the old book and breathed sharply, his lips parting in realization. "My Knight," he whispered as Anna had done when she spoke the words to him just a few minutes before hand. A grin crept across his puzzled expression. He closed the book and set it down again on the wooden dresser as the rain began pattering on the glass in the window.

The End

--  
Author's Note:  
First off, thank you to everyone who took the time to read and post reviews! It is much appreciated :)  
I admit I'm not the most familiar with the Batman universe though he is my favorite of the Super Heroes that are around now. I wrote this because the concept of Bruce Wayne and Batman as two seperate people in one physical human being always has intrigued me. The concept of Anna, a blind woman accidentally getting involved in such a messy situation was irresistable when I thought of it and I had to start writing it down.  
No, I have no ideas for a sequel in mind - please don't cheer too loud - and I like kind of the open ending anyway along with the subtle statement of "I know who you really are now.". It makes it fun.


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